When you say spring all I can think about it is wild garlic. Fresh from the garden or the forest, these leaves are my favorite for a pesto. Forget about basil. Go bold, go wild and make a wild garlic pesto.
It is also known as ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bear’s garlic.
I use the leaves in salad, soups, rice or stews. They look similar to a poisonous plant, so be careful. If you don’t know it very well go in a market and buy it.
If you like garlic, you can also use the leaves in green juices or smoothies. You can eat the flowers too. Wild garlic is at peak in April, so enjoy it as much as you can. They will be gone by June.
When you have fresh wild garlic forget about the old bulbs. Use it in everything. The taste is more delicate.
Wild garlic is antibacterial, antiseptic, antibiotic and also it helps in reducing blood pressure. It contains vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and copper.
If you want a real taste of spring taste wild garlic. You won’t be disappointed.
You can find my recipe for pesto here: Wild garlic pesto.
Don’t have wild garlic here only wild onions. Too bad, I know I would love wild garlic pesto.
Delicious – we have wild garlic growing in the garden, still a bit small yet, but I added shredded leaves for Wild Garlic butter prawns 😍 Will give the pesto a go when it grows a bit more
Enjoy!
Love garlic! I never even knew that you could use the leaves! I thought the bulbs were the whole package! Thanks for posting. 😀
You are welcome
Lovely
Thank you
I have never heard of wild garlic! This sounds absolutely AMAZING though!
Thank you
beautiful photography
Thank you
Oh, it looks delicious! We get wild onions this time of year. Sprinkle it on fish, rice, eggs – everything!
Nice!
Nice photos!!! Great idea – wish I had a forest to go pick some
Thank you
Neat! I love wild garlic. Still waiting for the forage and found guys to come to our market so that I could get these.
I’ve never seen wild garlic here in FL. Were have so many soil bugs here I guess you can’t grow them. I will look at some of the Fresh Market type stores and se if they have any. It sounds very interesting for a different pesto.
Good luck!
This is awesome! Thank you!!
You are welcome
There’s a patch of wild garlic in my garden – I planted it about 10 years ago and right now it’s coming up a treat. You might want to warn people that while the leaves are very mild in flavour, the flowers are extremely strong.
Also, the reason for being careful in your identification is that lily of the valley leaves look very similar (at least if they’re not in flower), come up at the same time, and they are poisonous.
Thank you for your information.
I made some on Saturday even before I saw your post. Wild garlic is a big deal in Vienna.
Nice!
Wow, it is the first time that I hear about wild garlic! I think we don’t have it here in Perú. So, were can you normally find it?
It is also known as ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek, or bear’s garlic.
Interesting! It is not know here in Peu, but I can’t wait to try it. Do you think I’ll be able to find it in Virginia? I loved your pesto recipe btw!
I think you can. Try all this names. It’s widespread across Europe, but maybe you can find it.
Love this and anything wild and yummy!
Thank you
Sounds yummy!
Thank you
I also like it a lot, right yesterday I prepared some homemade tagliatelle using it in the dough 🙂
Nice!
I just made the pesto and posted the result on my blog! https://theplate.blog/2017/03/28/wild-garlic-pesto-pasta-with-poached-greens/
Thanks for the recipe – first time I made wild garlic pesto my own 🙂
Congratulations!
Wild garlic pesto sounds AMAZING! Thanks for the ideas. Garlic and pesto are my two favourite things so I can’t wait to combine them! x
Thank you
I like wild garlic, but ate it just in salad with eggs…
And didn’t know that can be “wild garlic pesto” .
Thank you for this recipe!
You are welcome
Going to try this — thanks for the idea!!
Enjoy!
I’ve got to try this
Enjoy!
I’m going to have to look for this , have never seen it the store -Kat
I had never heard of wild garlic until this post! But now I want to find some the try it. Thank you for sharing!
You are welcome