Wild Green Pesto

~from the book Foraging & Feastingby Dina Falconi~

Versatile and nutritious, wild green pesto is a gourmet delight! Pesto is typically added to pasta, tastes great spread on whole grain bread and in soups, sauces and dressings.

When it comes to eating wild harvested leaves, plant identification is absolutely criticalas there are many poisonous look-a-likes and sometimes deadly plants to be aware of. For the wildcrafting newbie, you should purchase a good wild plant identification guide or do online research to positively identify any wild green before you consume it.

Foraging for wild food is one of humankind’s most basic survival instincts that has long been forgotten since the invention of large scale agriculture. Although, human societies throughout history have utilized wild collectibles for medicinal and food purposes, today it is not a commonly sought out practice. Most of us, however, could use more direct connection with the grounding balance that nature can provide and harvesting wild edibles can be a very rewarding way to integrate this element back into our lives.

Did you know that wild greens are the origins of all hybridized green leafy vegetables we know today and while they are much smaller in size, they are considerably higher in medicinal and nutritional values.**

Ingredients:

1½ cups of violet leaves

1 cup of wild bergamot leaf

½ cup of garlic mustard or flowering top

1/3-1/2 cup of EVOOO (extra virgin organic olive oil)

½ cup of grated Parmesan

½ cup of raw nuts (sunflower or pumpkin)

1-2 garlic cloves

Pinch of Himalayan salt to taste

1-In a food processor, add the Parmesan, nuts and garlic and process the mix.

2-Add wild greens and process until the mixture is well minced. Add olive oil until the desired consistency is reached.

*You can also use these wild greens instead, if the others aren’t available, as some of these are only out mid-Spring.

·         1½ cups wood sorrel leaf and tender stem, 1 cup star chickweed leaf and tender stem, ½ cup bee balm leaf

·         1¾ cups sheep sorrel leaf and tender stem, 1 cup dayflower leaf and tender stem, ¼ cup gill-over-the-ground leaf and tender stem (can include flower too)

·         1½ cups day lily shoots, 1¼ cups field onion greens, ¼ cup garlic mustard leaves (This combination is available only in early spring.)   

**Wonderful notes from https://www.superfoodevolution.com/