Scoplit pesto

• Categories: Cooking

One of the joys of cooking (of living!) in Italy is the variety of products you can find in the market.

Supermarkets tend to be small (navigating them at peak time a challenge) and the selection limited but the quality is always very high. You could basically buy anything with your eyes closed and not be dissapointed (or ruin your appetite or your health if repeated).

I am thinking specifically of the farmer’s markets in the public squares and the incredible variety of vegetables and especially herbs you might find. Many are just wild plants (unimprovably: erbe spontanee or selvatiche in Italian). One of the first I tried was scoplit, already some years ago.

Scoplit is the Slovenian name for this herb and it’s what is called in the Trieste region. Its latin name is Silene vulgaris, in English its apparently called bladder campion or maidenstears.

In any case, we mainly eat the leaves that look like somewhat pale, wide grass.

One can use it in a risotto or other dishes but its flavor is quite delicate and I prefer to just make a pesto.

Another, delicate and interesting herb I bought at the market (grazie Matteo!) is erba stella (Plantago coronopus in Latin, minutina or Buckshorn Plantain in English).

Both scoplit and minutina are native to Europe, northern Africa and parts of Asia, though it has been introduced in many other areas.

Looking at the photos of these plants in the wild I will admit that not that long ago I would have never imagined eating them (del baldío a su mesa my friend Jorge would say).

Here are the ingredients of a pesto I prepared a few days ago. I didn’t actually measure anything so it was all made a ojo. It was pretty good though.

• Scoplit leaves
• Rucola
• Erba stella
• Juice of one lime
• Pinoli (pine nuts)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Grated parmigian cheese

Put everything in food processor (the robot in Italian!) and mix it up.