Homemade wild garlic walnut pesto (also known as Bärlauchpesto in German) with mild garlic-y taste and lovely fresh texture (with walnuts, green olives and no cheese or pine nuts). It can be added to pasta, salads, roasts and veggies. This wild garlic pesto recipe is also vegan.
Wild garlic season is coming up and our household is exceptionally excited. We love bringing the freshness of spring onto the table. Don’t you? If you have some wild garlic on hand definitely try out our recipe – it is much different from the most popular ones that include cheese. This wild garlic pesto is a wonderful addition to salads, pasta, roasted veggies or meat. As I didn’t want to add cheese to the pesto, nor did I have pine nuts the first time I made it, I decided to experiment. The results were more than delicious. I’m sure you would love it too.
WHAT IS WILD GARLIC?
If you have never encountered Wild garlic (or wood garlic) before, it’s a wonderful flowering plant (a wild relative to onions and garlic) that is native to Europe & Asia. It’s most commonly used in German speaking countries as well as in the UK, Ireland and Eastern Europe. It’s said to have numerous health benefits and it’s pretty tasty too.
HOW TO USE WILD GARLIC
Wild garlic leaves can be used in cooking for preparing soups, salads, main meals (with or without meat / fish) and even desserts.
HOW TO MAKE WILD GARLIC WALNUT PESTO (without cheese)
1) Measure your wild garlic – adding more or less wild garlic leaves definitely changes the taste and texture of the pesto. Depending on your preferences you can adjust it to fit your own taste.
2) Add sesame seeds to the pesto or use crispbread with sesame seeds on. These seeds bring additional flavor to the pesto you do not want to miss. Alternatively, add 1 tbsp tahini if you do not have sesame seeds on hand.
3) Use freshly squeezed lemon juice. It might be tempting to use a store-bought lemon juice in a bottle, but adding real juice in makes all the difference.
4) Store in air tight container, preferably made of glass. My granny used to say if you want to preserve something do not use plastic, use glass – and for a good reason – glass containers preserve food taste and quality much better.
5) If you want to have a finer pesto consistency, remove stems before blending. I personally do not like to waste the stems, so I leave them in.
6) Blend well to reach a creamy, smooth texture or leave pesto a bit chunky depending on your own taste.
7) Use whatever nuts you have on hand – in the recipe we like using walnuts, but it get pretty tasty with hazelnuts or cashews as well.
MORE EUROPEAN RECIPES TO TRY:
- Easy Blueberry Lemon Waffles Recipe
- German applesauce cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies (Apfelmus-Kekse)
- One pot chicken in parsley sauce (30 minutes)
- Easy Cheese Bread (Georgian Khachapuri) -VIDEO
- Mediterranean Chickpea salad with arugula, tomatoes and lime
Wild Garlic Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 large bunch wild garlic, approx. 100/150g
- 2 wafers of crispbread, (German thin crackers)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup / 50g walnuts, finely chopped
- 10-15 green olives, pitted
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds, or 1 tbsp tahini
Instructions
- Wash wild garlic under cold water. Remove stems if preferred.
- Then crush crispbread with your hands in smaller pieces and place with remaining ingredients (wild garlic leaves, olives, lemon juice, olive oil, sesame seeds (or tahini)) in high speed food processor and blend until well combined.
- Check regularly if desired consistency is reached. Enjoy over crispbread, salads, pasta, veggies or roast.
- See above recipe for best tips and tricks.
Recipe Notes
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