Wild, Wild Pesto

 It was the morning after an action-packed pie and pea supper at the cricket club. I was somewhere but I was nowhere. I was here but I wasn't and any other similar oxymoron you'd care to think of. What I did know was that I was at a hilltop over a disused quarry surrounded by nature and clear views fifty miles to the south, west, east and north-east. I could also see my house and the two schools where I grew up. All those sights made me realise I was closer to the destination I needed to reach than I thought.

After the Dogg and I searched thoroughly in quarry turned nature reserve for exotic butterflies, we descended into the valley and soon found ourselves in a wooded area with a stream gently flowing south. There the smell of Wild Garlic, synonymous with the start of summer and lots of bright sunny days to come, was everywhere. It flowered around the banks of the stream and I gathered clumps of the leaves. They had the feel of moist recycled paper and the smell of the best Italian Restaurants in the City.

At home I was inspired by a good friend of mine and a talented cook, who is making one of the bravest decisions of her life to leave town to live on a Western Island, who recently made Wild Garlic Pesto. All recipes for this are slightly different. My one goes like this:

Ingredients:

Five large Wild Garlic Leaves.

The juice of half a Lemon.

100 grams of Pine Nuts.

25 grams of grated Charcoal Cheese that I sourced from the brilliant Stretton Hall Farm Shop. Check them out at: Stretton Hall Farm | Facebook 

Three tablespoons of Sunflower Oil. 

With Van Morrison's excellent recent venture into the Great American Songbook, 2017's "Versatile", playing quite loudly, I embarked on preparation of the Pesto. It went like this:

1. Shred the Wild Garlic with a small, serrated knife into as small pieces as possible. 

2. Pour the Sunflower Oil into a small bowl. 

3. Squeeze the Lemon Juice into the same bowl. 

4. Add the Wild Garlic, Charcoal Cheese and Pine Nuts and mix well together.

5. Serve with your choice of main. I served mine with Roast Chicken Pieces, Mashed Potato with homegrown Fresh Mint and a side of Homegrown Pak Choi. 

The Wild Garlic has a less strong but more flavoursome taste than Garlic Cloves. It also blended well with the Cheese, Lemon and Pine Nuts. It certainly help to give my Sunday Dinner a certain sophisticated richness.