Wild chives (or field garlic) are peppery, garlicky and fragrant. They are an excellent ingredient to make this vegan pesto with wild chives recipe.

The Backstory

I usually don’t reveal where I go foraging, but in the case of Trent Park, spread over three square kilometers, I can safely say I found some wild chives there (somewhere).

As you can see from the video, Trent Park is a stunning and, probably, lesser known park in London. It hosts Trent Park House, which was used during World War II for counter espionage against the Germans.

The grounds surrounding the house bursts with daffodils in the spring, thanks to the original idea from Philip Sassoon who planted a million bulbs in the 1920s.

Enjoy the video.

 

 

Vegan Wild Chives Pesto Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 handful of wild chives

3 tablespoons sesame seeds

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 small pinch of salt

METHOD

Wash the wild chives very well. Chop them roughly. Blitz all the ingredients together in a blender. It should take about 2-3 minutes to make sure you break down all the shells from the sesame seeds to create a smooth paste. Also, some stalks of the wild chives may be more stubborn to break down. If needed, add more olive oil for a smoother consistency. Some of the stalks of the wild chives can be quite stringy so you may want to discard the ones that look a bit older.

You can use the pesto as a sauce for pasta, and if so you may want to start by adding a bit of pesto at a time and taste because it is very strong.

Related Recipes

Hummus with wild chives and three cornered garlic

Wild chives and nettle savoury muffins