Hazelnut and Wild Greens Pesto is a modern British recipe for a classic wild food pesto made from a blend of hazelnuts, oil, ramson leaves and wild garlic leaves with Parmesan cheese. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Hazelnut and Wild Greens Pesto.
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Last October I stumbled across a hazel bush in a local park with larger than normal nuts. It was in a high traffic area so although the nuts had fallen the squirrels had not grabbed them yet. Over a few days I managed to gather a nice bag full of nuts. I cleaned them, dried them and kept them in their shells over winter, waiting for spring when I could use them to prepare a nice wild greens pesto. Now, in mid March the ramsons (wild garlic) greens and the garlic mustard are out and its time to make my pesto. I used local cold-pressed rapeseed oil instead of the more usual olive oil.
Ingredients:
100g shelled hazelnuts (blanched and toasted)
500ml water
3 tbsp baking soda
15g ramson leaves (large bunch), coarsely chopped
10g garlic mustard leaves, coarsely chopped
120ml virgin rapeseed oil
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
½ tsp sea salt
Method:
To blanch the add them to a pan of 500ml boiling water with 3 tbsp baking soda. Cook for 3-5 minutes until the skins loosen, turn the water dark, and rub off easily. Immediately plunge the nuts into an ice bath, rub off the skins with a towel, and dry thoroughly.
Arrange the nuts on a baking tray, spreading them out. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180C and bake for 5 minutes. Turn the nuts then return to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour into a bowl. Set aside until cooled.
Combine all the ingredients to a small food processor or mini chopper.
Pulse until all of the ingredients are blended. Use a spatula to scrape the sides to make sure all the ingredients are well mixed.
Transfer to a sterilised jar and store in the refrigerator.
