Wild Greens Pesto

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Integrating wild plants into your daily diet is the goal and one of my favorite ways to do that in the spring is with Wild Greens Pesto. Pesto is commonly made with basill and any basil pesto recipe will work but here is a recipe of mine that adapts well to many of the wild greens we are seeing this time of year.

This recipe is delicious with dandelion greens, fresh early nettles, chickweed, lambs quarters- really any good wild edible. You can adjust the recipe to add some basil or other culinary herbs like lemon balm, sweet spearmint or even some sheep sorrel leaves for their pungent lemon flavor.

Wild Greens Pesto is delicious to add to pasta, rice, layer on sandwiches, toast, wraps or use as a veggie dip.

Fresh Wild Greens Pesto Recipe

What you’ll need:

This recipe can be made with a blender, food processor or mortar and pestle. For ease and best consistency, a good food processor works best.

Good Identification skills if wild foraging! Make sure you are 100 percent correct in your plant ID before harvesting wild plants for food. Not sure of your plant ID skills? Many greens are sold at Farmers Markets and food co-ops. Or take a class with us! We have seasonal plant walks to get you up to speed on identifying wild edibles

Ingredients:

  • 2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed

  • 1/2 cup olive oil

  • 2-3 cups fresh wild edible greens

  • 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

  • A dash of salt

  • 1/4 cup ground walnuts or pine nuts

  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

Place oil, garlic and salt in blender, mortar and pestle, food processor (whatever you have is fine) and mix well to incorporate the oil and garlic. Some like the garlic to be chunky, others appreciate the garlic as a well integrated ingredient. The less chunky you want the garlic, the more you mix.

Add half of the greens and continue to pulverise plants, oils, garlic and salt.

Blend well and then add the remaining greens, nuts, lemon juice.

When combined to desired consistency, slowly turn in the fresh parmesan cheese.

That’s it!

If you are making your pesto with nettle- ignore the urge or advise to blanch before preparing your pesto. It is ok to use tongs or gloves to pick up your nettle to avoid the sting- but rest assured, the sting will be gone after you have pulverised it in to pesto!

Let us know how your journey with plants is enhanced with the storied use of feral foods for food.

Enjoy!