Pasta with Wild Garlic Pesto

A few weeks ago I had a week off work and I was so looking forward to days out and lots of fun things with hubby and Marco, but no such luck, instead I was struck down with the dreaded lurgie. I had mixed with people who had the lurgie but I seemed to be fighting it off, which I put down to my vegan diet full of fruit and vegetables. But alas it wasn't to be and it seemed as soon as I stopped and started to relax after a very hectic week at work it struck. It was like it was waiting in the wings and waiting for its moment to pounce. 

We had gone out to celebrate my birthday on Good Friday and I was so looking forward to it, but half way through the evening I started to feel a bit sniffly which I put down to the dining room being a little stuffy. My symptoms gradually worsened and by the time I got home all I wanted was my bed. Typical! Absolutely typical! Basically I stayed there for a few days feeling very sorry for myself!

As soon as I started to feel better I needed to make the most of the last couple of days I had off before going back to work so I treated myself to a foraging expedition to find some wild garlic.

There are plenty of health benefits of wild garlic including its antiseptic and antibacterial properties and of course it's free! Remember to forage responsibly and never take all you find. For the recipe you don't need many leaves and flowers.

Ingredients 
240g Pasta of your choice
1 small tin of sweetcorn
8 mushrooms chopped
70g Wild garlic leaves
25g Pinenuts
¼ Tsp Herbamare
Good grind of black pepper
A good glug of olive oil


Method
Wash and dry the garlic leaves and shred before putting in a food processor. Gently toast the pinenuts in a frying pan being careful not to burn them and add to the food processor. Add the herbamare and black pepper and a little olive oil to get things started. Turn on the machine and gently pour in more olive oil until you reach your desired consistency.

Cook your pasta as per the cooking instructions. Meanwhile saute the mushrooms in a pan for 5 minutes then add the sweetcorn to warm through.

Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water and add the pasta to the pan. Add the pesto and stir to combine everything. Serve straight away using the flowers as a garnish.