Vegetarian
Wild garlic pesto recipe
With spring comes an abundance of wild garlic, a flavourful plant boasting a whole host of nutritional benefits. It tastes delicious in this wild garlic pesto recipe.
Perfect for the entry-level forager, the long, tapered leaves of garlic are easily identifiable, although you’ll undoubtedly smell the herb before you see it. The fragranced fronds create a heavenly-scented carpet across Britain’s woodlands from early March onwards. The edible leaves are very versatile in the kitchen and pack a real punch (similar to that of conventional garlic) in seasonal recipes like this delicious wild garlic pesto.
Garlic has seen a renewed interest in its wellbeing properties lately, and for good reason. It’s widely known for its antibacterial properties and there is a line of thought that it may be antiviral too. Along with this, garlic also contains many important minerals including iron, phosporous and copper. It also contains vitamins A and C, which both help to support the functioning of the immune system.
If you can’t get out to forage, bring the foraging to you! Liz loves this wild-harvested, hand-dried wild garlic. You can use this in the recipe here – just use 10-15g depending on how strongly flavoured you like your pesto. You can add this version to dips, soups and sauces too.
Discover more wild garlic recipes
Wellbeing Wisdom
- Garlic is good for us, namely due to its cleansing and detoxifying properties
- Wild garlic is packed with vision-boosting vitamin A , cell-protecting vitamin C, blood- building iron, energy-releasing phosphorous, and copper, which helps protect the immune system
- It also boasts antibacterial and potentially antiviral properties as well as being a natural antibiotic
Ingredients
- 250g wild garlic
- 100g Parmesan, grated (or vegetarian hard cheese)
- 100g almonds, toasted
- 1⁄2 lemon, juiced
- 60ml olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor, slowly pouring in the olive oil as you go until the mixture reaches an even consistency. It will keep for 5-7 days in the fridge and 3-4 months in the freezer.
