Ground elder is often badly spoken about as a resilient weed which is the supposed enemy of most gardeners in Norway. Never-the-less, it’s a welcome plant at our place. Like the stinging nettle, the ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria) brings ground coverage, shelter for small animals, and is edible raw or cooked.
CAUTION : Be always 100% sure when you go foraging wild plants. Never pick something if you have doubts about it. Check the whole plant (leaves, stem, flower, scent, roots in some occasion) and the environment where it grows to see if it matches. Ask an expert if you are still uncertain.
Ingredients :
A good handful of ground elder (leaf and stem, avoid the one that are in bloom)
2 cloves of garlic
2-3 Tbsp with almonds and/or pine nuts
Olive oil
Parmesan or gruyère cheese
Salt and pepper
Tips : For pesto, it’s better to harvest the plant when it’s still young and light green. It has a sweeter lemony taste.
Recipe :
Clean and thinly chop the leaves and stems
In a mortar, add the greens, the nuts and a couple of tbsp olive oil. Grind the mix together for several minutes. You can also use an electric mixer instead of a mortar, but I like the rustic texture of hand ground pesto.
Grate some parmesan into the pesto (taste along to check how much)
Season with salt and pepper (depending on how salty your cheese is)
Et voilà ! I found it’s best to make it just before serving it. The ground elder pesto can keep in the fridge for a couple of hours, but the colour will darken a bit.
