ORECCHIETTE WITH WILD GARLIC PESTO This is a nice spring or summer pasta dish from Puglia that is pretty quick to make. I’ve you harvested a good amount of wild garlic, you can make a big batch and keep it in sterilised preserving jars in the fridge. I often just make a plain wild garlic oil with rapeseed or olive oil so you can convert it to either a green sauce or pesto.
MARK HIX
INGREDIENTS
DIRECTIONS
• 4 servings of orecchiette, or another pasta • A couple good knobs of butter • Extra Parmesan if you wish
1. To make the pesto put the pine nuts, basil, wild garlic and salt in a liquidiser and coarsely blend. 2. Add the cheese and blend again briefly, then transfer to bowl. 3. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water, according to manufacturers cooking instructions then drain and toss in butter then mix with the pesto, spooning more on top if you wish and extra Parmesan.
For the wild garlic pesto • 20g pine nuts, lightly toasted • 50g fresh basil leaves and any soft stalks • A small handful of wild garlic leaves • A good pinch of sea salt • 4tbsp freshly grated Parmesan or another hard cheese • 100-120ml extra virgin olive oil (preferably a sweeter olive oil) Serves 4
50 The Marshwood Vale Magazine May 2020 Tel. 01308 423031
