Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta (Printable Version)
Vibrant spring pasta with fragrant wild garlic pesto, pine nuts and Parmesan in 25 minutes.
# What You Need:
→ Wild Garlic Pesto
01 - 2.65 oz wild garlic leaves, rinsed and patted dry
02 - 1.75 oz toasted pine nuts (or walnuts)
03 - 1.75 oz freshly grated Parmesan cheese
04 - 1 garlic clove
05 - ⅓ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
06 - Juice of ½ lemon
07 - Salt and black pepper, to taste
→ Pasta
08 - 14 oz dried pasta (spaghetti, linguine, or penne)
09 - Salt, for pasta water
→ Optional Garnish
10 - Extra grated Parmesan
11 - Freshly cracked black pepper
# How-To:
01 - Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the starchy pasta water before draining in a colander.
02 - While the pasta cooks, add the wild garlic leaves, toasted pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and garlic clove to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times until the ingredients are roughly chopped and combined.
03 - With the processor running continuously, slowly drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil through the feed tube until a smooth, vibrant green paste forms. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and black pepper to taste. Blend briefly to incorporate.
04 - Transfer the drained pasta to a large serving bowl or back into the pot. Add the wild garlic pesto and toss thoroughly to coat every strand or piece. Splash in reserved pasta water a little at a time until the sauce reaches a silky, clinging consistency.
05 - Divide among warm plates or bowls immediately. Finish with an extra shower of grated Parmesan and a generous crack of black pepper, if desired. Serve right away while the flavors are at their brightest.
# Expert Tips:
01 -
- The pesto comes together in about five minutes if your food processor is already on the counter, which mine never is.
- Wild garlic has a gentler, more floral bite than regular garlic, so the whole dish tastes like spring decided to show off.
- It converts skeptical dinner guests who think pesto should only be green from a jar.
02 -
- Wild garlic season is maddeningly short, usually just four to six weeks in spring, so freeze extra leaves in olive oil ice cube trays if you find a big patch.
- Adding the lemon juice at the very end rather than with the leaves keeps the color a brilliant emerald instead of drifting toward army green.
03 -
- Blanching the wild garlic leaves for ten seconds in boiling water, then shocking them in ice water, locks in an almost neon green that will not fade.
- Toasting the pine nuts in a low oven instead of on the stovetop gives you a more even golden color without the heartbreak of charred edges.