Organic homemade easy pesto recipe | Vegan Friendly
Is there pesto in your garden?
The simple answer to this is more than likely YES, if you have a garden and even if you don’t, you can almost always find the ingredients for pesto anywhere in your local environment, you just need to look. There are mostly likely, two or more ingredients already in your garden that can be used to make pesto and in the wild hedgerows, woods and meadows there are unlimited combinations that can be used to make delicious, fresh, organic pesto for free.
In this article, I’ll breakdown the basic combinations of ingredients you’ll need to make pesto and how they can vary. In no time you could be producing your own delicious organic pesto right from your kitchen.
Let’s dive in…
Basically, you can make pesto from any green leafy plant that is edible, tastes good and is not poisonous. Please don’t make pesto from any poisonous plants, that sounds obvious, but it is always worth saying.
The main ingredient for pesto is your tasty, fresh leafy greens. When you think of pesto you may think that basil is the only leafy green ingredient to use. Basil is traditionally used, like the jars of pesto that you buy in the shops but below is a list of other edible greens that can be used as the main ingredient and all of them are very tasty:
spinach
kale
oregano
fennel
parsley
wild garlic
wild three cornered leeks
sage
lemon balm
wild chickweed
rosemary
nettle
The list is truly endless, so let’s zone in on one or two. I live in Cork, Ireland so the plants naturally found here are my focus.
First the garden, back in April or May you may have noticed a white bell like flower appearing in your garden or by the roadside. This is called Three Cornered Leek and is considered to be a ‘weed’. It can be very invasive and many gardeners fight a losing battle every year of trying to eradicate it. My thoughts are, leave it do its thing and just harvest it for fresh pesto whenever you feel like it. Simple and everyone wins. The plant gets to do its thing and you get fresh organic produce for free.
It appears in Spring and is gone by the end of May so the timeframe is limited but worth paying attention to. The leaves and stems are tri-cornered meaning they have three corners and are quite angular in shape. If you are unsure, pick the stem or leaf, turn it upside down and look up into it so to speak, you will clearly see the three corners. Also, it will have a mild garlicky smell and flavour. It can sometime be mistaken for wild garlic, they differ in shape but taste very similar and can be used in the same way.
What you need to harvest:
Scissors - I got this one and I love it, its versatile enough for the kitchen and tough enough for the outdoors.
A bag… or if you want to get fancy, you can order yourself a foragers basket - made from beautiful willow. I’ll be honest I use a foraging basket because it keeps the produce intact, the plastic bag may damage or crush the greens but also I use the basket because I am a bit of nerd.
Gloves - honestly, any gloves will do but I like to use long sleeve leather gloves. They are tougher, longer lasting and more breathable than most synthetic gloves and they are bullet proof regarding thorns and any nasties you might find. Get yours here.
Tips:
When I pick three cornered leeks or edible green (which I have done for years now), I pick as much as possible without eradicating the plant entirely. For example, I only pick 50% of the plant and leave the rest to propagate for next year and hence more pesto for next year.
I generally try to come home with at least one or two plastic bags full of it. That way I can make batches of pesto which can be frozen and used at a later date.
Always rinse and wash your green harvest before eating. Try to harvest from places that you know are free from pesticide spray or dog wee.
Apart from just making pesto with it, you can chop it up into salads and the fully edible flowers look beautiful for garnishing any meal. Also, I rough chop the greens into inch long servings and pile them into biodegradable freezer bags or better again, reusable freezer bags and freeze to use as greens in lasagnas, stews, curries etc. I tend to use it in the same way that I use spinach.
If you have missed the three cornered leeks season and really want to give this a try, then you can use the same information above and the recipe below for any number of wild free produce like nettles, chickweed, dandelions, even cleavers or sticky backs as we call them in Cork.
If you are unsure of the wild produce and can’t fully identify it, I recommend not picking it or consuming it.
Recipe:
The following recipe is a formula for every green pesto combination under the sun. If you want to mix it up and try different combinations I have given you several options after each ingredient as per your own taste but also as per what is seasonally available both wild and in the shops.
100g edible greens (wild options - three cornered leeks, wild garlic, nettles, chickweed, dandelions, cleavers. Shop bought or garden grown options - fennel, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley, spinach, kale, sage, lemon balm)
50g roasted nuts (nut options - pine nut, walnut, almond, pecan, brazil nut, macadamia, pumpkin seed pulp left over from homemade pumpkin seed milk - I’ll be posting the pumpkin seed milk recipe in the coming weeks)
200ml oil - (oil options - olive oil, rapeseed oil, avocado oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil)
40g cheese or vegan alternative (cheese options - parmesan, goats, feta, blue, ricotta, cheese free options - nutritional flakes, cashew nut cheese)
good sprinkle of sea salt or Himalayan salt.
a squeeze of lemon or lime for added zing.
Blitz it all up in a food processor or blender - (having tried and tested a few different blenders and broken most of them, its hard to beat this one)
Stir and decant into clean jars or reusable plastic food boxes and drizzle another layer of oil over the top to seal in the freshness. Refrigerate and use for dips, pasta sauce, drizzle it on salads or buddha bowls, spread it on toast and sandwiches or freeze it and enjoy it later!
Happy hunting! xxx
Thank you for reading. May you live wild and free.
Love,
Hilary x
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