Green Garlic Pesto

Don't be fooled by the green garlic in your bag..they are NOT green onions although they are frequently mistaken for them.  The young shoots of garlic, commonly called green garlic, is easy to turn into a flavorful spring "pesto" sauce.  This pesto keeps very well, covered and chilled up to 3 days or frozen up to 2 months.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound green garlic
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 cup pine nuts or pistachios
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup freshly shredded Pecorino cheese or other hard, flavorful grating cheese

Preparation:

1. Trim and discard root ends of green garlic. Finely chop green garlic, rinse thoroughly and pat or spin dry.
2. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, cook vegetable oil, green garlic, and 1/2 tsp. salt until soft, about 3 minutes. Let cool to warm room temperature.
3. In a blender or food processor, pulse pine nuts or pistachios to chop. Set aside. Add green garlic and process, scraping down sides as necessary, until bright green and smooth. With motor running, drizzle in olive oil. Pulse in reserved nuts and cheese. Taste and add more salt if you like.

Makes enough Green Garlic Pesto to coat 1 pound linguine.