Wild Garlic Pesto is a springtime favourite sauce that can be added to pasta, soups and salads. During the spring in the UK, when wild garlic is in season, the best way to use them is to turn them into pesto. This super tasty sauce keeps well in the fridge for two weeks and also freezes beautifully.
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Wild garlic (or Ransoms) is abundant in the UK between March and June and usually grows in the woods and riverbanks. It has long, bright green leaves, pretty little white flower buds and has quite a pungent, strong, garlic smell. The leaves appear in March and start flowering in April.
Wild Garlic Health Benefits
Extracts of wild garlic leaf lower cholesterol and blood pressure, which in turn helps to reduce the risk of diseases such as heart attack or stroke. Although all garlic has this property, wild garlic has the greatest effect on lowering blood pressure.
Why This Recipe Works?
- Wild Garlic Pesto is super versatile: you can stir it through pasta, use as a pizza sauce or mix it with some mayo to make sandwiches.
- It is very easy to make this sauce in just 15 minutes with minimum preparation.
- This pesto tastes incredibly tasty and can be used with almost everything.
- You can store it in the fridge for up to two weeks or in the freezer for up to 6 months!
- If you don't have pine nuts, you can use walnuts, hazelnuts, cashew, almonds, macadamias, and pumpkin seeds with this recipe.
- This recipe is vegetarian but you can easily make it vegan by substituting the parmesan cheese for a vegan alternative.
Ingredients and Substitutes
- Wild Garlic - You can forage wild garlic in the UK between March and early summer. However, if you don't have the opportunity to do so, you can buy them from the farmers' market or use the veg box scheme that provides them. Alternatively, you can substitute it with rocket leaves or basil and add a couple of fresh garlic cloves.
- Pinenuts - It is traditional to use pinenuts for pesto but you can use any nuts you have such as walnuts, almonds or hazelnuts. Lightly toast them before adding them to pesto for a more intense flavour.
- Parmesan - Use block parmesan for making pesto. You can substitute it with pecorino romano or grana padano cheese.
- Olive oil - I use good quality extra virgin olive oil for my pesto as it makes a huge difference in taste.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Making Wild Garlic Pesto is very easy and only takes ten minutes. However, to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:
Carefully wash the wild garlic leaves, making sure to remove any soil or dirt. Dry them using a salad spinner.
Place the wild garlic leaves, pinenuts, parmesan cheese, salt and freshly ground black pepper in a food processor.
Blitz it while adding the olive oil slowly at the same time, until it becomes smooth. Taste the seasoning and adjust it to your taste.
Place it in a jar or an airtight container and then store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Related Recipes
For other delicious sauce and dip recipes why not try:
The answer is yes, it freezes beautifully! Freezing the wild garlic pesto is the best way to preserve wild garlic as it has a very short season. Simply place them in an airtight container and freeze them for up to 6 months.
Pesto is a delicious green sauce made with basil leaves, pinenuts, parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. However, you can make pesto using other nuts and green herbs or salads instead of pinenuts and basil leaves.
You can add younger leaves, flowers and seed pods to salads and use the flower stems like chives. Why not try making a delicious and healthy Wild Garlic Soup? Or you can make wild garlic butter with the leaves, add them to stews. You can also make cheese scones or hummus.
Top Tip From the Chef
If you want to forage wild garlic for the first time, check it from a pocket guidebook before picking anything. The biggest clue is the smell. It may look similar to wild garlic. Don't eat it if it doesn’t smell like garlic. Also, never pick leaves next to busy roads or lanes, or low down, where dogs are regularly walked.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this scrumptious Wild Garlic Pesto as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!
Wild Garlic Pesto
Equipment
Ingredients
- 150 g wild garlic leaves
- 50 g parmesan cheese
- 50 g pine nuts (dry roasted)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 130 ml extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Carefully wash the wild garlic leaves, making sure to remove any soil or dirt. Dry them using a salad spinner.
- Place the wild garlic leaves, pinenuts, parmesan cheese, salt and freshly ground black pepper in a food processor.
- Blitz it while adding the olive oil slowly at the same time, until it becomes smooth.
- Taste the seasoning and adjust it to your taste.
- Place it in a jar or an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition
FOOD SAFETY
- Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
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Did you make this recipe?
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