Wild Garlic & Watercress Pesto

Wild garlic, like it’s bulbous cousin is incredibly anti-inflammatory and great for calming an overworked body. Paired here with watercress, a bitter leaf that helps to stimulate digestion, this pesto is a great tonic for gently removing toxins from the body.

Ingredients

Makes 1 jar

• 80g wild garlic

• 70g watercress

• 1 smoked garlic clove (unsmoked is fine if you can’t find smoked)

• ½ lemon, zested and squeezed

• 50g sunflower seeds, toasted

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Wash the wild garlic and watercress, then dry well. Place the both in a blender, and blitz till they are beginning to break down.

2. Add the garlic clove, zested and squeezed lemon and toasted sunflower seeds to the blender, pulsing again till you have a thick paste.

3. Slowly, with the motor running, add the olive oil in a steady, slow stream till you have a loose pesto. This should be to the texture that you like; I always aim for my pesto to be loose enough to fall from a spoon with ease, but to not be as runny as double cream.

If you can’t forage wild garlic locally, it can be bought from a farmers’ markets or good greengrocers when in season.