Wild Garlic Pesto Recipe
You know we're all about making meal times speedy, easy and delicious.
But with lives being go, go, go, it's important to slow down and take some time for yourself.
So, we've got a new hobby for you to take up. Foraging.
Not only is foraging natural aromatherapy (especially when foraging for wild garlic), simply being outdoors in the sun and fresh air calms down our stress response. After so much time living in our own heads and indoor spaces, foraging is an incredibly grounding and calming hobby.
And speaking of wild garlic, we've got a downright delicious wild garlic pesto recipe for you.
Get yourself down to your local shady woodland or riverbank where you'll find this damp & shade loving plant from December until late spring.
For more info on where to find wild garlic, how to identify it, along with foraging guidelines, head here.
This green, garlicky goodness is delicious on pasta, sprinkled with pine nuts, or drizzled over your favourite salad; how will you use it?
Ingredients
- 65 g / ½ cup pumpkin seeds
- 100 g / 3.5 oz wild garlic leaves**
- 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
- ½ tsp salt, more to taste
- 4 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
- black pepper, to taste
- 120 ml / ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- a generous pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
Method
- Wash wild garlic leaves really well and dry them by blotting them with a kitchen towel or simply leave to air-dry.
- Dry-roast the pumpkin seeds in a hot pan on a low-medium heat. While they are toasting, they’ll making crackling noises, some seeds will start getting golden brown and the skin on some varieties will crack. Make sure you stir them the entire time as they burn very easily. Allow them to cool down completely before blending in the pesto.
- Place all the pesto ingredients apart from the olive oil and chilli flakes into a food processor. We used 4 tbsp of lemon juice in our pesto, for extra zing, so you may want to adjust the amount to your taste. Process until chopped small and then start trickling in olive oil while the motor is going.
- Add chilli flakes to taste and adjust the seasoning to your linking.
- Transfer the pesto to a clean jar and top with an extra tablespoon of olive oil to prevent mould from setting in. Store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.
Please note:
**Please familiarise yourself with the shape and smell of wild garlic leaves before you set out as it is quite similar to another plant, lily of the valley, which is deadly poisonous.
Make sure you post your attempt at this fantastic dish on your Instagram and tag us @soulfulfoodco