Savory Maggie's Lovage Healthy and fragrant

Lovage: A pesto from the herb garden
Lovage is also called maggie herb. Because the plant smells and tastes similar to the spicy sauce developed by Julius Maggi in 1885. But the joke: lovage is not included here.

Lovage, the healthy herb. Image: Marek Gottschalk - fotolia

The celery-like aroma of the plant is due to essential oils that stimulate the appetite and have a beneficial effect on the stomach and intestines. In the kitchen lovage enhances the taste of meat, soups, egg dishes, mushrooms and root vegetables such as carrots and celery. The young leaves can also be prepared as spinach as a vegetable side dish. A refined lovage pesto tastes great with pasta, jacket potatoes and salad dressing. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds and garlic are roasted in a pan and finely ground. Then mix with pureed lovage and parsley, oil and Parmesan and salt to taste. The whole thing comes in a clean glass jar and lasts for months in the refrigerator when it is sealed with a layer of sunflower oil. Since the flavor of lovage is very intense, the spice should be used sparingly. Often a knife tip of the dried spice or parts of a fresh leaf is sufficient. For warm dishes, the leaves and young shoots are added at the end of cooking.

The lovage (Levisticum officinale) is believed to be native to Western Asia and Liguria. The perennial is up to 2 meters high. The umbellifer resembles an oversized celery with its tubular stem and striking pinnate leaves. Under the ground, a turnip is formed, which is dried in medicine, but also used for herbal schnapps. The seeds are used as a spice for cheese and bread.

Lovage is great for the herb garden. As a rule, a plant is sufficient for a family of four. It needs a lot of space and a sunny to partially shaded location. The best harvest time, as with many herbs, before flowering, since the young leaves are then particularly aromatic. In winter, it freezes above ground, but drives in the spring again from. At the weekly market and in well-stocked supermarkets Lovage is available all year round. From spring to late autumn, the herb also comes from domestic production. Heike Kreutz, bzfe