Fermented Wild Garlic Pesto
Pesto is a traditional Italian sauce that originated from Genoa. The name pesto is derived from the Genoese word “pesta” (to pound or to crush) It basically refers to any ingredients crushed using a pestle and mortar. Typically it would be basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and a parmesan cheese but you can use all sorts of ingredients, different greens and different seeds or nuts for the crunch in the pesto. Fresh wild garlic pesto lasts in the fridge well sealed and with oil for a week or so or make it last longer by fermenting it.
So you can take this and ferment any type of pesto, you leave the oil and the cheese out while you ferment the other ingredients. This makes wild garlic pesto last longer.
Ingredients
Makes 100 g
- 75g wild garlic leaves
- 4 tbsp hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts or the traditional pine nuts (toasted or untoasted)
- 2 tbsp 2% brine from a batch of sauerkraut or 2g sea salt, plus a little extra
- Fermentation time 1-3 days
Instructions
Wash your wild garlic leaves well, I check each one as I wash them as well as when I pick them to doubly make sure they are wild garlic. Once you have washed them drain them well and pat dry. Whizz the leaves and the nuts up in a blender or use a pestle and mortar. Make the consistency coarse or fine depending on what you fancy. Stir in the sauerkraut brine or the salt.
Spoon the mix into a jar and layer a couple of wild garlic leaves at the top or a little glass weight if it fits or a little cabbage leaf. If there is space at the top of the jar, I like to add some sauerkraut brine to cover the surface or a small amount of 2% brine made with filtered water. “Under the brine and then you are fine”
Ferment for 1 – 3 days with a plate under the ferment to capture any liquid lost. After 1to 3 days of fermenting at room temperature, taste your ferment, there should be a little sourness. This funkiness is what you are after. You can put this in the fridge and serve as a dairy-free pesto or add parmesan and olive oil when you come to use the pesto. Once fermented and in a airtight container in the fridge it should last at least a month or more.
Enjoy with pasta or anyway you use pesto normally.
