edible weeds
from your lawn to the table!
by Laura Pazzaglia
(return to food)

The very weeds that sprout in your lawn, like dandelions and chickory, were purposely brought to the United States by our immigrant forefathers as edible plants.

Italians, along with the Greek and Spanish, are one of the few western cultures that continue to forage for wild food to this day. Any culture which has had to face hunger and famine took to explore the "wild" for edible plants. The Italians, in particular, have a history of foraging that goes back to Roman and, even, Celtic origins.

Edible weeds are high in nutrients and minerals (like iron, and vitamins) and, unlike, cultivated herbs that you would grow in your garden or buy at the store they don't need pesticides or artificial chemicals to grow - they just find a place they like (nesteled between coastal rocks, protected in a forest, ect.) and grow!

Our Expert
For the details and recipes in this article we consulted Laura Rangoni, an eccentric academic who lives on a small valley in the mountains near Bergamo and goes by the nickname Strega di Montagna (witch of the mount). Her passion is for untouched and uncotaminated nature and the discovery of ancient knowledge traditions passed through women. She has learned and taught others how to live off herbs, love them, respect them, heal with them and, in turn, help the herbs when she can. She has written many books in Italian about edible and curative herbs, traditional Italian cooking, and women herbalists (referred to throught history as witches).

Most Common Edible Weeds in Italy
English Name	Italian Name	Latin Name
German Chamomile	camomilla	Matricaria chamomilla
Wild Garlic	aglio usino	Allium ursinum
German Chamomile	camomilla	Matricaria chamomilla
Burdock	bardana	Arctium lappa
Centaury	centaurea	Erythraea centaurium
Chicory	cicoria selvatica	Cichorium intybus
Agrimony	agrimonia	Agrimonia eupatoria
Watercress	crescione	Nasturtium officinalis
Mallow	malva	Malva silvestris
Lemon Balm	melissa	Melissa officinalis
Water Mint	menta	Mentha aquatica
Oregano	origano selvatico	Origanum vulgare
Primrose	primula	Primula officinalis
Dog Rose	rosa di macchia	Rosa canina
Black Elderberry	sambuco	Sambucus nigra
Dandelion	tarassaco	Taraxacum officinalis
Thyme	timo serpillo	Thymus vulgaris
Johnny-jump-up	viola del pensiero	Viola tricolor
Data by Laura Rangoni, Translated by Laura Pazzaglia

Your Weeds
You, too can collect edible weeds, but keep but keep this in mind:

• Never eat part of any plant unless you have positively identifyed the plant and know that it is edible.

• Before collecting dandelions or other edible plants from your lawn or park, find out if they were been treated with herbicides to kill the weeds. If so, plants themselves will have absorbed some of the poison and they will be unsafe to eat.

• If you see decaying pet (dog, cat, ect.) waste near the plants avoid collecting from that area. Dangerous bacteria grow on these decaying wastes.

• When harvesting edible plants do not take them all. Leaving some untouched will help ensure that there will be another crop of wild foods in the future.

There was a time where it was relly easy to find wild plants and flowers, especially for therapudic uses. But now, many of these weeds grow in the wild with difficulty, due to the poisoning of the envioronment or can no longer be harvested because they have become endangered.

related books Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants Edible Wild Plants The Neighborhood Forager: A Guide for the Wild Food Gourmet Wild in the Kitchen more books...

Cooking with Weeds
Laura suggests that you expiriment with traditional recipes that call for edible weeds -- not everyone will like them but they will definately bring you back to our Italian roots.

"Who wouldn't want to pick Hops and try to make their own beer at home? In Bergamo, they used to make coffee with leaves from either Holly Tree Leaves or Acorns from Oaks!"

Boiled Egg Salad with Dandelion -Insalata di uova sode e tarassaco (Taraxacum officinalis)
4 boiled eggs
14 oz of tender dandelion rosettes
1 onion, chopped into rings
1 handful of chopped wild mint
4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp of red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Cut the boiled eggs into coins, and place them in a salad bowl with the dandelion leaves, chopped onion rings. Add the mint and dress with oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Dandelion Buds in Vinegar - Boccioli di tarassaco all'aceto (Taraxacum officinalis)
10 oz of small, closed dandelion flower buds
2 tbsp of salt
1 cup of vinegar
1 cup of dry white wine
2 garlic clobes
2 bay leaves
1/2 liter of olive oil

Cover the buds with salt and let them dehydrate for a couple of hours. Bring the vinegar, wine with the garlic cloves and bay leaves to a boil. Throw in the buds for a minute, then drain them and allow them to dry on a dish towel. Then put them in a jar and cover them with olive oil. Wait about a month before eating.

Macaroni with pancetta & Mugwort - Maccheroncini con pancetta e Artemisia (Artemisia vulgaris)
1 lb pasta (Macaroni or Pennette)
4 oz parmesan cheese
4 tbsp butter
1/2 lb pancetta (or smoked bacon)
4 oz mugwort leaves
1 onion
salt & pepper to taste

Chop the bacon, onion and mugwort finely. Melt the butter on a very low flame and add the chopped ingredients and stir them into the butter - keep the temperature low so the ingredients do not fry. Cook the pasta "al dente" then, add the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Burdock Flavored Salad -Insalata saporita di Bardana (Arctium lappa)
10 oz diced prosciutto
2 lemons
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
4-5 cloves of garlic
14 oz of burdock
1/3 cup of Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste

Chop the garlic and parsley in large pieces. Mix them in a bowl with the oil and lemon. Then, add the Burdock and leave everything to marinate for about half an hour. Add the prosciutto cubes, season to taste, mix and serve.

Celery stuffed with Borage - Sedani farciti alla Borragine (Borago officinalis)
1 celery bunch
1 lemon
7 tbsp of slated butter, room temperature
7 oz grated Parmesan cheese
4 oz borage flowers 5-6 leaves of lettuce salt & white pepper

Clean the celery stalks, remove the fibers and soak the stalks in a lemon and water bath. To a blender add the butter, cheese, borage flowers (only the blue petals and reserve some whole flowers for decoration)and season with salt and pepper. Blend until you obtain a thick cream. Drain and dry the celery stalks. Fill the stalks with the cream. Line a serving dish with lettuce leaves and place the stuffed stalks on top and decorate with whole borage flowers.

Hops Bud Pie - Sformato di semolino con germogli di Luppolo (Humulus Lupulus)
4 cups of milk
10 oz semolina flour
4 tbs butter
4 eggs
10 oz hops buds
4 tbsp of tomato sauce
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch of basil
salt & pepper
nutmeg

Blanch the hops buds, drain and chop them. Then mix in the eggs and lightly sear the concoction in butter and nutmeg. In a separate pan, bring the milk to a boil and add salt. Add the semolina flour and stir continously for about 15 minutes, add the hops and other ingredients and pour the whole mixure in a baking dish. Cook at 350F heat for about 30 minutes. Serve cold with a light salsa made from the tomato sauce, oil, basil, salt and pepper.

Hoary Nettle Lasagna - Lasagne di Ortica (Urtica dioica)
2 lbs hoary nettle
2 oz pancetta cut into thin strips(or bacon)
2 cloves of garlic
3 eggs
8 oz of unbleached flour
4 tbsp of oil
2 oz of grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper
bechamel sauce (see recipe below)

Pour the flour on the contertop, add the egs, 1 tbsp of oil and a pinch of salt. Knead and flatten the mixure with a rolling pin. Then cut your pasta into large strips to fit your baking dish and toss into boiling water until the float. Boil the nettle for a minute, drain and squeeze the water out of them. Lightly brown the pancetta with garlic and a dash of olive oil. Oil your baking pan and cover with a layer of pasta, then add the Nettle sauce, and bechamel sauce. Continue adding layers in this way until you run out of ingredients. Dust the top with a hadful of grated cheese. Cook at 150C for about 30 minutes.

Bechamel Sauce
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until light golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, heat milk in separate pan until just about to boil. Add milk to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes and remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg and set aside.