Lemon noodles with wild garlic pesto

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 375 g pasta
• 140 g wild garlic
• 4 tbsp sunflower seeds, possibly up to 7 tbsp
• olive oil
• 1 lemon(s)
• 20 g Parmesan or Pecorino, grated, possibly up to 40 g
• Salt
• pepper
• possibly honey

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 10 minutes; Total time approx. 35 minutes

This pesto goes well with pasta, but is also great as a spread on bread.

Wash the wild garlic, shake off any water, and remove the stems. Tear the leaves into slightly smaller pieces, about the size of basil leaves, and place them in a measuring jug. Add 4-7 tablespoons of sunflower seeds. The amount of seeds depends on how intense your pesto flavor is. If you prefer the strong flavor of wild garlic, use fewer sunflower seeds. Roll a lemon, then squeeze half of it. Add the juice to the wild garlic leaves and sunflower seeds. Then add plenty of oil. I don’t have an exact oil quantity, but if you have trouble blending, you know you’ve used too little. When it comes to pesto, you generally need a lot, so it’s better to use a little more than too little. Grate the Parmesan cheese and add it to the other ingredients, then add salt and pepper. Blend everything until the leaves and seeds are only visible in the small pieces typical of pesto. If you’ve added too little oil, you can add more while blending. But be careful: don’t puree for too long, otherwise you’ll end up with a wild garlic cream that’s difficult to spread on the pasta. Taste and season again with salt, pepper, grated cheese, and a little lemon juice if necessary. If the wild garlic is a bit too strong for you, you can add a little honey to soften the flavor. In the meantime, cook the pasta. Sprinkle the cooked pasta on the plate with a little lemon juice, then add the pesto and mix. If you like, you can grate Parmesan cheese over it. The pesto will keep for a few days in the fridge and can also be eaten on bread. This recipe makes enough pesto for three to four people, depending on how much everyone eats.