Wild herb pesto can be made from many different wild plants, such as lady’s mantles, rosebay willowherb, wood sorrel, dandelion, etc., but nettle is probably the best. And nettles mixed with ground elder is probably just as good.
This time I made a slightly larger batch of 3 litres of greens, nettles and ground elders mixed together. It keeps for 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator and is so good for everything. However, writing this recipe on 2 l of green
- 2 litres of greens (nettles, ground elder, dandelion, ladys mantles, rosebay willovherb, wintercress, woodsorrel, small birch leaves, yarrow….)
- 2 dl sunflower seeds or cashewnuts
- 2 dl parmesan cheese or equivalent
- 2 cloves of garlic
- about 4 dl cooking oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
Pre-soak the nettles and ground elders to help them keep their green colour. Squeeze out the water and put everything in a blender and mix. I personally like smoother pesto so I usually start by mixing the nuts and grate the garlic but otherwise it is to run everything to a suitable mass. If it feels too dry, add more oil.
Enjoy on bread, with pasta, on pizza, with salad, as a dip and whatever else you can think of.
