Wild Garlic Pesto

Wild Garlic is fantastic to cook with and one of my favourite ingredients. It is delicious and sweet with a garlicky flavour. This Wild Garlic Pesto is easy to make, delicious and Oil free. It can be stirred through pasta, swirled through soups and stews or served as a condiment to baked potatoes. Try using it as a salad dressing or popping a few spoons into your favourite sandwich.

Ingredients

100 gr Wild Garlic leaves
½ cup of Sunflower Seeds
1/4 cup of Hemp Seeds
4 Tbsp of Nutritional Yeast
1 Lemon (zest and juice)
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Instructions

Step 1 – Wash wild garlic leaves really well and dry them in a salad spinner.

Step 2 – Dry roast the Sunflower seeds in a medium hot pan or oven. Set them aside and let them cool down.

Step 3 – Add the Wild Garlic Leaves, roasted Sunflower and hemp seeds, Nutritional Yeast, Lemon zest and juice with a few good cracks of black pepper to a food processor.

Step 4 – Blend until smooth, scrape the sides down as you go. Add a splash of water if needed to thin the Pesto.

Step 5 – Transfer the pesto to a clean jar with a lid. Keep it in the fridge up to 1 weeks. I like to have it within 2-4 days. You can also freeze it and depending on your freezer it will keep for up to 6 months.

Step 6 – Use it in pasta dishes, as a dressing or a dip. Try my super nutritious Lentil and Wild Garlic Salad.

About the Ingredients

Wild Garlic: Wild garlic is a medium-sized bulbous perennial with a distinctive pungent garlicky smell that pervades woodlands in spring. The leaves are long, pointed and oval in shape. Wild garlic is common and widespread across the UK. It favours deciduous woodland and chalky soils. Wild garlic is an ancient-woodland-indicator plant. If you spot it while you’re out exploring, it could be a sign you’re standing in a rare and special habitat. If you can’t find Wild Garlic you can use Basil instead, it will have a very different taste but still delicious.

Sunflower Seeds: Sunflower seeds contain magnesium, potassium and fibre. They help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Consuming them also reduces the occurrence of arrhythmias. They bring natural oils so we don’t need to add any processed oil.

Hemp Seeds: Technically a nut, hemp seeds are very nutritious. They have a mild, nutty flavour and are often referred to as hemp hearts. Hemp seeds contain over 30% fat. They are exceptionally rich in two essential fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-3. They are also a great source of protein.

Nutritional Yeast: Pure nutritional yeast comes from the saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, an inactive yeast made from sugarcane and beet molasses. Enjoyed as a low-sodium, salty-tasting condiment, it’s a great cheese substitute, and a sauce thickener. I’m using a non-fortified nutritional yeast, it naturally contains protein, fibre, and a multitude of minerals (including iron, selenium, and zinc), plus a natural vitamin B-complex and beta-glucans. I avoid fortified as they have man made synthetic vitamins and minerals that we don’t need.