Wild garlic and pumpkin seed pesto

A delicious pesto using wild garlic

Ever since I moved back to Devon I have made an annual event of going up to the woods near where my parents live and picking some wild garlic to make pesto. At this time of year it carpets woodland, and isn’t one of those foraged things that is impossible to find!

If you haven’t picked it before, then make sure you google it to ensure you are definitely picking the right leaves (I have popped some pictures below for reference!) , although it’s pretty easy to identify with it’s strong garlicky smell! I try to go for the younger, smaller leaves which are more tender than the large fully-grown ones. If you aren’t able to make the pesto as soon as you are home, simply immerse the leaves into a big bowl of cold water. They will stay fresh for a few days this way.

I find pine-nuts way too expensive to buy these days, so experimented with pumpkin seeds, and these worked perfectly!

We tend to make the same dish with out wild garlic pesto every year- gnocchi (shop bought from the fresh pasta aisle), with fried crispy bits of bacon, fresh or dried chilli, and green beans, with the pesto mixed in and gently fried through at the end.

This recipe produced enough to make4 servings for 2 people.