Gill Meller's recipe for wild garlic pesto
The appearance of wild garlic is a sure sign that spring is on the way. Make the most of it with this quick and easy recipe for 'intense' pesto.


The first shoots of wild garlic usually appear in March and look like brilliant-green spear tips piercing the land. When I see them, I know spring is really here, which can sometimes feel like a relief.
Wild garlic, or ramsons, as they are also known, seem to grow well around the edges of woods or down by streams where the light is often dappled and gentle and the earth is damp. If you get a chance to gather some garlic leaves, they make a really intense pesto that will keep long after the garlic has flowered and gone to seed.
Gill Meller's wild garlic pesto
- 100g hazelnuts
- 350g wild garlic leaves
- 100g hard sheep's cheese, finely grated
- About 150ml extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to seal
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Place the hazelnuts in a small pan and set over a medium heat. Toast for 3–4 minutes, shaking the pan every so often so the nuts toast evenly. Tip out onto a clean cotton cloth or tea towel, fold over the corners to envelop the hazelnuts, then rub them vigorously to loosen the skins. Set aside.
Place the wild garlic leaves in the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly to break down the leaves. You’ll probably need to stop the machine so you can remove the lid and encourage the leaves down towards the blade. Once the leaves are coarsely chopped, add the peeled, toasted hazelnuts and pulse again. Now add the cheese and the olive oil and pulse again until you reach the desired texture. Season the pesto generously with salt and pepper to taste and adjust the consistency with more olive oil as you like.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape the pesto out into a large jar. Tap the jar on the work surface to help settle the pesto then trickle over a thin layer of olive oil to seal. Fasten the lid and store in the fridge, where it will keep for several weeks.
This recipe originally appeared in 'Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower — how to cook with vegetables and other plants'. You can follow Gill Meller on Instagram, here.
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Gill Meller is a chef, award-winning food writer, teacher and advocate for real cooking. Based in Lyme Regis, Dorset, he has written extensively about the joys of outdoor cookery and how making a simple fire and 'cooking something good to eat over it' can help us connect to a more natural, mindful way of life. Gill appears frequently on Channel 4’s ‘River Cottage’ and has worked closely with the River Cottage for more than 20 years, regularly teaching at Park Farm (River Cottage HQ). His work is regularly published in The Guardian and the Observer, The Telegraph, Waitrose Food and Delicious Magazine. He has also appeared on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme. Published by Quadrille, Gill’s first book, Gather, won the Fortnum & Mason award for Best Debut Food Book in 2017 and was shortlisted for the Andre Simon Award and Guild of Food Writers Award the same year. Time: a year and a day in the kitchen was published in September 2018 and was nominated for both Guild of Food Writers’ General Cookbook Award and Food & Travel magazine’s Cookbook of the Year Award. Root, Stem, Leaf, Flower - how to cook with vegetables and other plants was published in 2020 and was nominated for the Guild of Food Writers’ General Cookbook Award. His latest cookbook Outside - Recipes for a wilder way of eating is out now.
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