Cod fish with wild garlic pesto and spring flowers

For 4 people

• 4 cod fish backs
• Some green asparagus
• Olive oil and salted butter
• 4 very thin slices of bread
• A few sprigs of ground ivy
• A few sprigs of lemon thyme
• A few sprigs of chervil
• Wild garlic Pesto and flowers
• White balsamic vinegar
• Fleur de sel

Wild garlic pesto

• 200g (7 oz) of wild garlic leaves
• 50g (1^1/2 oz) of parmesan
• 50g (1^1/2 oz) of pine nuts
• 200ml (1 cup) of olive oil
• 1/2 lemon
• Salt
• Pepper

Prepare the wild garlic pesto in advance.

Wash carefully the leaves under running water.
Then, there are two ways to proceed.

In the first one, coarsely chop the leaves and mix them with all the ingredients until the pesto is smooth.

In the second one, blanch the leaves for one minute in boiling water, then plunge them in cold water to stop the cooking process. Then proceed the same way by mixing all the ingredients together.

The first pesto is a little bit stronger in taste, and the second one is smoother.

The benefit of the second way is also to prevent the risks of echinococcosis (disease that can be transmitted by fox poop on wild plants).

Wild garlic pesto can be frozen in small portions and be used during all year.

Prepare a tiny vinaigrette. Mix half a tsp of wild garlic pesto with a few drops of white balsamic vinegar, a pinch of fleur de sel and a tsp of olive oil. Set aside.

Cook the green asparagus by plunging them into boiling water for a few minutes. They must remain crisp. Drain and set aside.

In the meantime, cut very very thin slices of bread. Use a previous day’s bread to ease the task.

In a pan, brown the slices of bread with a nut of salted butter, then place them on a paper towel and set aside.

Briefly sauté the green asparagus in butter or olive oil, then roast the cod fish backs a few minutes on both sides. Don’t allow the fish to cook too much and crumble.

Arrange the plates by placing first the asparagus and the fish. Sprinkle with a pinch of fleur de sel. Place the crispy slice of bread on the fish. Then, on the bottom and around, drop some peaks of wild garlic pesto. Finally, drop some ground ivy leaves and flowers, some sprigs of chervil, some lemon thyme leaves and some wild garlic flowers and a few drops of the vinaigrette.

Serve immediately.

Tip : butter can be beneficially replaced by ghee, that is much more healthy in the cooking process and equally tasty.