It wasn't so long ago that people up here on the mountain pasture had to help themselves. The doctor rarely came up here and was far too expensive for the simple folk. Over the centuries, they accumulated a wealth of knowledge. For a while, people had almost forgotten which meadow green could be used for which ailment and how many parts of plants from the forest were edible. But thank goodness many a recipe has survived the ages and we at the Naturhotel Runa can also spoil you with delicacies from the forest and meadows. Our (kitchen) chef Alex loves to be out and about with you on the mountain pasture, collecting plants and using them to conjure up extraordinary delicacies. Alpine meadow flowers, the young shoots of dandelions and co. and even the young shoots of fir, spruce or Swiss stone pine are full of valuable ingredients and provide a wonderful variety of flavours. 

Alex knows exactly where the most delicate "Zigori" grow. Commonly known as dandelion, a salad made from carefully picked leaves of this true miracle plant is one of the classics of natural Alpine cuisine. Together with boiled potatoes and spices, zigori is a must for a genuine South Tyrolean early summer feast. Alex's pasta creations are a wonderful example of how the art of cooking from the mountains comes together with that from Mediterranean climes in South Tyrol. The delicious pasta with spruce sprout pesto or Swiss stone pine sauce is a revelation! If you would like to experience how the flavours of the forest are transformed into this special culinary delight, take a look at our current offer "May, how good you taste"! Four relaxing nights on the mountain pasture and a forest pesto workshop in Alex's forest kitchen await you. And when you take a sip of our homemade elderberry spritzer with your pasta, you'll know you're in paradise: If there is a paradise, then it must be up here and taste exactly like this!

Spruce sprout pesto recipe:
 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg spruce shoots
• 300 g strained spinach
• 300 ml seed oil | a little olive oil
• 300 g pine nuts or peeled almonds
• 20 g garlic
• Herb salt as required

Preparation:

• Wash the spruce shoots and coarsely pass through a mincer
• Then mix in a blender with seed oil and a little olive oil
• Add the strained spinach and mix together
• Mix in the remaining ingredients until everything is thick and creamy

• Chill the pesto in the fridge

   

Use the same ingredients and preparation for Zigori or dandelion pesto.