Sorrel and lemon balm pesto

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 200 g sorrel
• 100 g lemon balm
• 5 leaves of yarrow, young leaves
• 5 pecans
• 100 g Parmesan cheese
• 150 ml olive oil
• Chili pepper(s), dried, from the mill
• some sugar
• Salt and pepper, from the mill
• 2 garlic cloves

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 minutes; Total time approx. 23 minutes

Wucher pesto, delicious with pasta and also goes very well with fish

Wash the herbs with cold water. Remove any coarse stems and leaf axils from the sorrel leaves and lemon balm leaves, roughly chop them, and add them to the food processor along with the young yarrow leaves. Toast the pecans in a pan without oil to get some roasted flavors. Let them cool slightly and add them to the herbs. Grate the Parmesan cheese and add them to the herbs. Finely chop the garlic (it’s better not to press it, as this tends to make it bitter) and add it. Add the olive oil and spices and mix in short bursts until the desired consistency is reached. Important: Take your time when mixing so it doesn’t overheat. Taste the mixture again. Tip: You might think the food processor is doing everything, but the longer the food processor runs, the more heat it generates. Heat and fresh herbs don’t go well together. The pesto is delicious with pasta, but I can also imagine it going well with fried fish. I haven’t tried that yet. The amounts of herbs are approximate; sorrel to lemon balm should be used in a ratio of roughly 2:1. Yarrow imparts a bitter taste, so don’t use too much. You can of course vary the spices as you please, but a tiny bit of sugar is a good idea to round out the flavor. The pesto keeps well in the fridge if the surface is covered with oil; there usually isn’t much left over. This applies to any pesto. If you’re using multiple jars, make sure there are no herbs etc. above the layer of oil; then it will theoretically keep until next year. Sorrel and lemon balm grow in incredible quantities in the garden or on the balcony, so you have to use them somehow, which is how the recipe came about.