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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan wild garlic pesto

April 17, 2018 by Ania - 17

easy, gluten-free, healthy, Italian

vegan wild garlic pesto jar

When hiking the hills of North Devon recently, we noticed that the forest had a mild chive-like aroma to it. We looked around and realised why. Every single patch of soil that hadn’t already been taken by the trees was overgrown with wild garlic (also known as ramsons). Its delicate, pointy leaves looked gorgeous scalloped on top of each other, creating an intensely green, dense carpet on the forest floor.

I got really excited about incorporating it into my cooking but, as luck would have it, it chucked it down on the morning of our departure and given that it was already very muddy when the weather was dry(-ish), we decided against wild garlic picking in such miserable weather. Oh well, maybe we will come across it elsewhere, we thought.

The next day I went running in the small woods near my house and I was astounded to see it overgrown with the very plant I had to go all the way to Devon to notice on my own doorstep. I was amazed how I managed that. I came up with a plan and a few days later, equipped in a pair of grippy shoes and a pair of scissors, I went wild garlic foraging.

It was a bit tricky as since the woods are frequented by all sorts of dogs, big and small, I had to climb onto the muddy banks in order to find healthy looking specimens that hadn’t been trodden on (or worse πŸ˜‰ ) . It was slippery, so a bit precarious, but I was hooked. I even got heckled by one lady, who as soon as she saw me, announced loudly that she doesn’t like garlic and does not understand why people are going so crazy for it. ‘What are you going to do with it, petal?’ she asked…’Pesto’, I replied, thinking that she probably won’t approve of that either…Tough crowd!

Even though this wasn’t something I set out to do here, this pesto is done on a shoestring with nature’s gift of wild garlic leaves and pumpkin seeds, which happen to be dirt cheap (especially in comparison to the classically used pine nuts, which you would need to remortgage your house to buy πŸ˜‰ ). The only premium ingredient is extra virgin olive oil but you are welcome to replace it with another type of neutral-tasting oil instead. This pesto is delicious on pasta, steamed spring veggies, drizzled into hummus, dolloped over a soup or smothered over boiled new potatoes. However you chose to have it, make it please – it will put a smile on your face, promise!

PS: If you make my vegan wild garlic pesto, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

vegan wild garlic pesto key ingredients

vegan wild garlic pesto food processor

wild garlic bunch

vegan wild garlic pesto olive oil topping

5.00 from 3 votes
Print
  • makes: 240 ml / 1 cup
  • prep: 10 min
  • cooking: 5 min

Ingredients

  • 65 g / Β½ cup pumpkin kernels / pepitas*
  • 100 g / 3.5 oz wild garlic leaves**
  • 1 unwaxed lemon, zest and juice
  • Β½ tsp salt, more to taste
  • 4 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 120 ml / Β½ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • a generous pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Method

  1. Wash wild garlic leaves really well and dry them in a salad spinner (if you have one), blot them with a kitchen towel or simply leave to air-dry.
  2. Dry-roast the pumpkin kernels 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.
  3. Place all the pesto ingredients apart from the olive oil and chilli flakes into a food processor. I used 4 tbsp / ΒΌ cup of lemon juice in my pesto, as I like things to be lemony, 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.
  4. Add chilli flakes to taste and adjust the seasoning to your linking.
  5. 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.

Notes

*Many nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios and hazelnuts) or hemp seeds or sunflower seeds will work well too.

**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.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

    Leave a comment

  1. David Pilkington says

    April 17, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Works well. I have a nut allergy & don’t get on with pine nuts. Very pleasantly surprised at the taste & texture Created a simple but very tasty pasta dish

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 17, 2018 at 8:33 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that, David! πŸ™‚ Thanks! Ania

      Reply
  2. VeganJoe says

    April 18, 2018 at 8:33 pm

    Hello! What can be used instead of wild garlic leaves?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 18, 2018 at 10:55 pm

      There are lots of options, Joe! Basil, mint, parsley, rocket, kale, spinach (or a combination of these) are the most common. You could also make pesto from things like carrot tops and or nettles. You may also want to add 1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste) if not using wild garlic. Hope that helps! Ania

      Reply
  3. Albert Bevia says

    April 19, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    That is an awesome story about finding the wild garlic leaves, kinda funny that lady would even care what you or anyone else would be so crazy for garlic, I have never had wild garlic leaves, but now IΒ΄m intrigued, plus I love pesto! great post

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 19, 2018 at 6:24 pm

      Thanks, Albert! If you are a garlic fiend, I urge you to look for them – wild garlic pesto is soooo delicious, on EVERYTHING πŸ˜‰ Ania

      Reply
  4. Sandra says

    April 20, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    Spot on. Thank you so much for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 21, 2018 at 11:24 am

      You’re very welcome. I’m glad you liked it! Ania

      Reply
  5. Lili says

    September 3, 2018 at 10:07 pm

    Where do you find Garlic leaves?
    Do you think I can leave out the oil or what would you substitute for it?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      September 4, 2018 at 12:38 am

      I picked it in a forest. Oil is pretty crucial for the consistency and it makes pesto cling to the pasta better so I would advise against skipping it, but perhaps you could use a ripe avocado instead. Ania

      Reply
  6. Ingrid says

    October 4, 2018 at 5:39 am

    Estoy fascinada con tu pΓ‘gina!!!… reciΓ©n la encuentro y me parece genial. Gracias por compartir tus recetas y sin duda estarΓ© comentando por acΓ‘ . Saludos!

    Reply
  7. sorina says

    March 1, 2019 at 12:00 am

    hi, I’ve been thinking of making my own pesto, but never dared as I find it too complicated. this convinced me to give it a go. as they say, food tastes better when it comes with a story. can you freeze this?

    Reply
    • Ania says

      March 1, 2019 at 12:33 am

      Yes, it definitely does! Plus it’s dead easy, I swear! I have not tried freezing pesto though so not 100% sure on that. It keeps for a long time in the fridge provided you top it up with olive oil so that there is a layer of it on top of pesto – the oil prevents the mould growth. Good luck! Ania

      Reply
  8. karl bartlett says

    April 3, 2019 at 5:54 pm

    I made this exactly as the recipe suggests and it was wonderful. Full of delicious flavours, the garlic restrained by the nutty pumpkin seeds and the lemon kick is just right. The extra bite from the chillies is good. I served it with roasted pine nuts and grated Vegan hard scheese. Fantastic, I’m making more already. Definately worth a full 5 stars! Well done Ania.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 3, 2019 at 6:48 pm

      Thanks so much, Karl! I’m delighted to hear that! x Ania

      Reply
  9. Malinder says

    April 12, 2019 at 9:01 pm

    Dear Ania – can the pesto be frozen? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      April 13, 2019 at 12:07 pm

      Hi Malinder,

      I have not tried freezing it, but I don’t see why not! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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