An easy classic recipe that’s full of delicious nutrients, perfect for quick dinners.

1. Put around 8 handfuls of wild garlic leaves in a bowl or food processor, and half the amount of nettle tops (and Sorrel leaves if you are eating it straight away, as they tend to go brown quickly). If you want to blanch the foraged leaves first, put them in a colander and submerge briefly in boiled water. You will add the basil later. A ratio of Wild Garlic:Nettle:Basil – 2:1:1 works well, but you can change this according to your preference.
2. Add in 250g of toasted pine nuts or hazelnuts, or a mix of both. You can also use walnuts, cashews or pistachios. Toasting them yourself is simple; add to a pan on a high heat and swizzle about for a few minutes, until they are brown but not burnt. Keep an eye on them as they can quickly catch! As soon as they’ve browned, empty into a bowl.
3. Grate in hard cheese, about 50-100g. I use parmesan or pecorino. If you leave this out the recipe remains vegan, and the pesto does last longer in jars or in the fridge. You could always wait to grate cheese through or over when you use it.
4. Add a big pinch of salt and pepper, and five to ten glugs of good quality olive oil. I recommend unfiltered extra virgin, its worth the extra if you can afford it, I promise. Basically the olive oil you use is very important in the overall end flavour. If the oil is bitter, your pesto will be too.
5. Whizz it up! Snipping with scissors firsts stops the long stems getting caught around the blades. I use a £5 hand blender, if you don’t have the room or money for a food processor this works just as well, even if it takes a little longer.
6. When it is almost blended, add in your basil leaves and continue to blend.
7. Taste it and add more of whatever you think it needs more of – it’s your pesto!

To Store

Transfer to a sterilised jar (washed with hot water then placed upside down in an oven on 160 degrees for a few minutes usually does it) and once full,  pour a layer of olive oil on top to help stop it from going brown and last longer.

Bonus pickled buds recipe!

Pick the wild garlic flower buds before they open (mostly to keep them fresh, but also to minimise the chance of bugs living in there!) As soon as you get home, jar them in 50/50 rice and cider vinegar with Szechuan peppercorns if you have them, pink peppercorns work well too. Then store in the fridge and use as a garnish for Ramen, soups and stews.

Thanks to Jenny Carden-Porrett for sharing her recipe with us!