Ramsons Pesto with Wholewheat Spaghetti

Ramsons is also known as "wild garlic" due to its pungent garlic odour, or "bear's garlic" as the brown bears after hibernation, seek it out to cleanse their system. Ramsons has similar medicinal properties to those of the garlic. It is therefore especially valuable for a spring cleaning and waste removal course of treatment. They can be used as salad, as a vegetable, in soup, or as an ingredient for pesto in lieu of basil.

Ramsons Pesto

250 g Wholewheat spaghetti
10 Cherry tomatoes, halved
10 Bocconcini, optional
A handful of baby greens
Freshly ground black pepper

80 g Ramsons leaves, chopped
60 g Almond, chopped
80 g Parmesan-Reggiano, grated
130 ml Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste







Add only enough chopped almonds to the skillet so they lie in a single layer. Turn heat on to medium and toast, stirring occasionally until the nuts are fragrant. Remove from heat and cool.
Rinse, dry and chop the ramsons. In a food processor, pulse toasted almonds and ramsons a few times. Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on, stopping to scrape down sides of container. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. If you have a mortar and pestle, do use them to pound the ingredients.
To store the pesto, simply place them in a jar and allow the oil to rise to the top. If it doesn't add a little oil to seal the top. It will keep fresh in the refrigerator for about a week.
Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain in colander and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add in pesto (about 1/2 cup) and gently toss to coat thoroughly. If pesto is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of the pasta water to thin it a little.
When pesto is mixed in, add cherry tomatoes, bocconcini if used, baby greens and season with freshly ground black pepper to taste.