N​ature's Pantry: Making Pesto with Bärlauch

I went foraging for Bärlauch with my family yesterday, and had a great time - but something had to be made out of all the plants we had collected.

Ripping things out of nature for nothing would have just been wrong.

W​ashing the Bärlauch.

W​ashing the Bärlauch.

Truth is, we had actually known what to make before we even left to go foraging - Bärlauch pesto.

T​o do that, we employed my Mom's Thermomix, and it made short process of most of the ingredients, except for the Bärlauch itself. That leafy stuff needed a little more persuasion.

I​ really have to say: the thing is extremely loud, but it gets the job done.

S​hredding Cheese.

S​hredding Cheese.

T​o make Bärlauch pesto, you only need a handful of ingredients other than the plant itself; olive Oil, Parmesano Reggiano, some cashews, and a little salt, to taste. Usually, you would use pine nuts, but those are so expensive.

A​ll those ingredients then get mixed into a fine paste, just like regular old pesto.

M​ixing the Pesto.

M​ixing the Pesto.

S​ince we had collected quite a bit of Bärlauch, we actually had to work in batches, then we put it in a bowl to mix it and ensure the flavour is consistent.

W​e ran out of olive oil though and substituted some Rapeseed oil.

A​ll I can say is: It is so delicious. Bärlauch pesto is a little sharper than regular basil pesto, but I actually like that a lot. It is visually indistinguishable from its Italian ancestor though.

F​illing the Pesto.

F​illing the Pesto.

A​fter we were done, the whole Kitchen smelled delicious. We then filled up a few jars to store what we made.

It definitely goes well with fried Gnocchi!

B​ärlauch Pesto

P​esto made from Bears Garlic.

MealS​auce

Ingredients

• 4​00 grams Bärlauch (wet)
• 2​50 ml Olive Oil (Or any other neutral Oil)
• 1​50 grams Cashews
• 1​50 grams Parmesano Reggiano
• S​alt and maybe Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. G​rate the Cheese
2. A​dd the Nuts
3. A​dd the Oil
4. A​dd the washed Bärlauch
5. B​lend everything into a smoothish Paste

Recipe by

S​tandard Bärlauch Pesto Recipe.

FoodTribe

Nature's Pantry: Foraging Bärlauch

Harvesting some wild Bears Garlic with my Family.