Guest Post-Leslie's Green Garlic Pesto

We certainly have been having some very strange weather. Spring came in with record high temperatures then Mother Nature decided to change things up and have the extreme frost make an appearance. This will have a huge impact on many of the fruit trees in Ontario, but the one constant despite the weather seems to be garlic. 

For anyone who participates in a Spring CSA program they are sure to find green garlic as one the first items in their baskets. Last year, my spring addiction was garlic scape pesto. I couldn’t make it fast enough never mind eat it fast enough. I did manage to freeze some to last me over the winter, allowing me to instantly feel like spring was just around the corner. Needless to say as spring arrived so did my excitement for yet another season of making and eating garlic scape pesto. That is until I discovered green garlic pesto! This is a pesto made just like any other, only the star ingredient is the green garlic. The young shoots of garlic, commonly called green garlic, is easy to turn into a flavourful spring pesto.  It produces a mild, almost sweet garlicky flavoured pesto. Unlike the garlic scape pesto which does have a more pungent flavour, the green garlic pesto is the milder sibling. 

Here is a quick and easy recipe for green garlic pesto! Enjoy! 

Green Garlic Pesto

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound green garlic
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil  
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste 
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or pistachios 
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• 1/4 cup freshly shredded Pecorino cheese or other hard, flavorful grating cheese  ( I used parmesan) 

Preparation:

1. Trim and discard root ends of green garlic. 
2. Finely chop green garlic, rinse and pat or spin dry. 
3. In a large frying pan over medium heat, cook vegetable oil, green garlic and ½ tsp salt until garlic is soft, about 3 minutes. Let cool to warm room temperature. 
4. In a blender or food processor, pulse pine nuts or pistachios to chop. Set aside. Add green garlic and process, scraping down sides as necessary, until smooth. 
5. With motor running, drizzle in olive oil. 
6. Pulse in reserved nuts and cheese. 
7. Taste and add more salt and olive oil if you like. 

Makes enough Green Garlic Pesto to coat 1 pound of linguine. This pesto keeps very well, covered and chilled up to 3 days or frozen.