Sorrel is one of those plants that once you find seems to be everywhere! I can’t resist nibbling on the odd leaf while passing. The main wild sorrel you will find is sheep’s sorrel, in the late spring and early summer it sends up clusters of red flowers – like a dock or rhubarb. By autumn the flowers have usually gone and left are spear like leaves growing in clumps. The leaves are a much lighter green than dock and one bite is enough to really tell the difference – it has a very distinctive lemon flavour. If you don’t live near a meadow or seldom get into the country sorrel is very easy to grow. The seeds can be sown in a pot indoors in March and put out in May. I have a couple of plants on my allotment and this is enough to pep up a salad quite regularly.
Sorrel can be used in salads or made into a soup along with potatoes. One of my favourite things to do with sorrel is to make a pesto with it.
Sorrel Pesto –
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts
- 2 garlic cloves
- 100g sorrel leaves – blanched for 30 seconds in boiling water, then refreshed in cold water
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Optional- 40g grated Parmesan
Method
In a coffee grinder or pestle and mortar grind the toasted pine nuts and garlic
Place the resulting mixture in a food processor along with the remaining ingredients and mix!
Put it in a sterilized jar or use it straight away on pasta etc, mmm!
Article written by Dave Hamilton. Dave has now left Selfsufficientish but you can catch up with him on davehamilton.me.uk or on twitter @davewildish
