Vegan wild garlic pesto made with foraged wild garlic leaves and pumpkin seeds makes this a super affordable, easy to make and vibrant spring condiment full of flavour.
A little backstory on my foraging attempt…
I never thought I’d be saying this sentence but……….. I went foraging. Well we failed at foraging, but I’ll let you read on and be the judge of that.
This little foraging outing was inspired by a friend from work; Who I was very jealous of when she showed me the amount of wild garlic she had collected when out with her daughter last year.
This Pesto recipe was made after the Second time we went looking for wild garlic. The first time… we ended up walking straight past the woodland area FULL of Wild garlic. We did end up finding some but had to climb up a steep bank on the side of the road to pick it.
Second time around armed with a little map via WhatsApp we managed to find the woodland area where it grows…. and there was so. much. garlic.!!! and no steep hills to climb!
The ingredients you will need to make this wild garlic pesto
- Wild Garlic – washed and dried
- Pumpkin seeds
- Lemon – unwaxed
- Nutritional yeast or Vegan Parmesan
- Olive Oil
- Spinach – Optional, but I like to add it for extra nutritional goodness.
What makes this wild garlic pesto recipe so great:
This pesto costs next to nothing when you use free wild garlic leaves provided by good old mother nature and pumpkin seeds, which happen to be dirt cheap, especially compare to the traditionally used pine nuts, which are very tasty but so expensive.
The only premium ingredients are the vegan Parmesan and the extra virgin olive oil, but you are welcome to swap it with another type of neutral-tasting oil instead.
What to use this wild garlic pesto on:
- Swirled through pasta.
- Served with buttery new potatoes
- Dolloped on roasted veg
- Spread on bruschetta toast or to jazz up hummus and dips – it will put a smile on your face, whatever you add it to.
Looking for other spring recipes to try?
- Heirloom Tomato Tart – this would go perfectly with a dollop of the pesto on the side.
PS: If you make my wild garlic pesto, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @basilandbay and use the #basilandbayrecipes hashtag. I’d love to see your takes on my recipes!
