Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 30 mins
Servings: 3 servings
Yield: 3/4 cup
The young shoots of garlic, commonly called green garlic, are easy to turn into a flavorful spring "pesto" sauce in which the green garlic takes the place of basil, for a similarly easy-to-make pasta sauce with a decidedly garlicky, bright spring flavor.
Use this pesto on pasta, as pictured, as a spread on sandwiches, as a dip with spring crudités, or as a luscious sauce for chicken or fish. If you have a lot of green garlic on hand, know that this pesto keeps very well, covered and chilled up to three days or frozen up to two months—so go ahead, make a big batch, and freeze some for later in the year!
Ingredients
-
1/2 pound green garlic
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1 tablespoon vegetable oil
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1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
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1/4 cup pine nuts
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1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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1/4 cup freshly shredded pecorino cheese
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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Trim and discard the root ends of the green garlic.
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Finely chop the green garlic, rinse it thoroughly under cool running water in a colander, and pat or spin it dry (I find chopping and then cleaning gets all the dirt out of the picture; if it's been a rainy spring, the dirt has a way of getting splattered in between the layers of the green garlic leaves).
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In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the vegetable oil, green garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt until the green garlic is soft, about 3 minutes. Let it cool to warm room temperature.
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In a blender or food processor, pulse the pine nuts to chop. Set them aside in a bowl.
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Put the cooked green garlic in and pulse it, scraping down the sides as necessary, until it is bright green and smooth.
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With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil.
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Pulse in the reserved nuts and cheese. Taste the mixture and add more salt, if you like.
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Use with your favorite type of pasta and enjoy.
Tip
- Note that this recipe makes enough to coat 1 pound linguine.
Recipe Variations
- Pistachios are a good substitute for pine nuts.
- If you don't have pecorino, another hard, flavorful grating cheese, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, works great.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Servings: 3 | |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 413 |
| % Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat 32g | 42% |
| Saturated Fat 5g | 23% |
| Cholesterol 7mg | 2% |
| Sodium 461mg | 20% |
| Total Carbohydrate 27g | 10% |
| Dietary Fiber 2g | 7% |
| Total Sugars 1g | |
| Protein 8g | |
| Vitamin C 24mg | 118% |
| Calcium 210mg | 16% |
| Iron 2mg | 11% |
| Potassium 376mg | 8% |
| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |
