Wild Garlic and Pumpkin Seed Pesto

At the moment forest hillsides once again are covered in wild garlic, one of my favourite wild herbs. Collecting enough for this dish is a matter of minutes, as is making it. In a jar it keeps for some time in the fridge. We’ve never had it long enough to figure out if and when it goes off.

It works well with pasta, but tastes lovely on crostini as well, and on baked potatoes.

 

 

 

 

What you need

• 1 or 2 handfuls of wild garlic
• 500g pumpkin seeds
• olive oil or, if you fancy something more pumpkiney, pumpkin seed oil (more expensive, though)
• salt to taste

What you do

1. Wash the wild garlic and make sure that it is reasonably dry.
2. In a frying pan or on a skillet roast the pumpkin seeds until the delicate smell reaches your nose; they should be slightly browned and start making a crackely sound.
3. Meanwhile chop the wild garlic roughly, then put it in the blender with the roasted seeds.
4. Blend to your liking (some like a pesto to be smooth, others like the bits in it) adding oil to get the right consistency.
   
5. Salt to taste.