Sorrel Pesto

On the East Coast we've had one our more stubborn winters, so you can imagine how excited everyone was to see the weather turn. The markets this weekend were loaded up with the first shoots of spring, and I've never been so happy to see all that green. Finally there are the tangled piles of ramps you can smell two stalls away. After months of roots and potatoes it's a small shock seeing color again. Stalks of rhubarb peeking from behind the spinach or cotton candy tufts of lilac spilling out of their tall buckets.

Sadly, this idyll is not my day-to-day. I'm not a farmer's market regular. I don't do my shopping with a pretty straw basket, carefully turning over each turnip til I find one the one that speaks to me. Nope. Shopping like this is a treat, but when I go I like to hunt for things I'm unfamiliar with. I stopped at one stall for the purple asparagus and happened on a few bunches of sorrel. I knew enough about it from eating it in restaurants to gauge its flavor (tart, lemony, with a score of black pepper), but not enough to really know what the hell to do with it.

As if on cue, the vendor looked up from his lunch plate and waved his hand in the air. "Do you know what to do with that?"

"Not exactly. I hear it's good in soup but I've never cooked with it. What do you do?" I mentioned.

"No idea. I've never used it. You want it? How about $1 for the bunch? Take it. At least somebody will use it. Then come back next week and tell me what you made." 

So I took it. A friend texted me that it's good in custard or puréed in soup with leeks (thank you Maddie!). Having no eggs or leeks, I settled on pesto. Something a little reminiscent of that Sorrel Rice Bowl at Sqirl. I put the sorrel into the blender with some mint and cilantro I keep around. I added a little garlic and red pepper flakes for heat. I think next time I'd make it in the food processor because I like my pesto to have a little more texture, but this is totally up to you. I stirred a spoonful in with some leftover basmati rice and seared a small steak to slice on top. The asparagus went into some browned butter then in the oven to roast. This is how I eat on average, by improvising, tasting as a I go, tossing what's around into a bowl and crossing my fingers it works. This time it did. The pesto is citrusy and bright. Exactly the taste of spring. And yes, it's good in a soup!

Sorrel Pesto

Ingredients:

1 Large Bunch Sorrel (about 2 Cups), washed and dried
1/3 Cup Mint
1/3 cup Cilantro or Parsley
1 Garlic Clove
1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tablespoon Lemon Zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice, plus more to taste
1/2 Cup Olive Oil (use the good stuff if you can)
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

1. In a blender or food processor, add garlic clove. Pulse to chop. To this, add the sorrel, mint, cilantro or parsley, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. With the motor still running, drizzle the olive oil into the blender until it's smooth (or pulse coarsely if you prefer more texture in your pesto). 
2. Add the lemon juice, a good pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Taste it to see if it needs any adjusting. Too much lemon will overpower the work the sorrel is doing for you (it's pretty tart!), so if that's the case, add a little more salt. 
3. Makes about 1 cup of pesto, can be frozen up to a month. Delicious in potato leek soup or stirred into rice pilaf, or just served alongside some grilled fish or roast chicken. Enjoy!