Wild garlic pesto pasta is a spring dinner that costs almost nothing. A handful of foraged leaves, a food processor and the time it takes to boil the pasta is the whole of it, and because the pesto is never cooked there is nothing in it that can go wrong.
The orange is what makes this one different from every other wild garlic pesto. The zest and juice go in at the end, tossed through the pasta rather than blitzed into the sauce, so they stay sharp and lift the whole bowl instead of disappearing into the oil and the Parmesan.
It makes about 400 g of pesto, which is more than the pasta needs, so there is a jar left over for toast, new potatoes or a roast chicken. It keeps five days in the fridge under a film of oil, or freezes in an ice cube tray for about three months.
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Pin itWhat Wild Garlic Brings to Pesto
Wild garlic (also called ramsons, or czosnek niedźwiedzi - “bear’s garlic” - in Polish) is a spring green that grows in damp, shaded woodland across Europe and parts of North America, usually from March to June. The leaves have a gentle, grassy garlic flavour - milder and greener than a raw clove - which makes them perfect for a pesto you can eat by the bowlful. As a bonus, they are packed with vitamins A and C.
Wild Garlic or Ramps? They Are Not the Same Plant
The two words get used as if they mean the same thing and they do not. Wild garlic is Allium ursinum, the broad soft leaf that carpets damp European woodland in spring and is also called ramsons or bear’s garlic. Ramps are Allium tricoccum, a North American plant with a white bulbous base and a purple-tinged stem, and they taste closer to a spring onion with a garlic edge than to the leaf we pick here.
They behave the same way in a pesto, so if you are in the United States or Canada and ramps are what you can get, this recipe works with them straight across. The one difference worth knowing is that ramps carry a bulb as well as a leaf, and the bulb is much stronger. Use the leaves for the pesto and keep the bulbs back for something cooked, or the sauce will be sharp rather than green.
Why the Orange Works
Swapping the usual basil for wild garlic gives the sauce a fresher, more herbaceous edge, and the orange is what ties it together. The zest and a squeeze of juice cut through the richness of the olive oil and cheese, so the pesto tastes bright rather than flat, and it keeps the colour vivid on the plate.
Pin itEquipment You’ll Need
One machine does nearly all the work in this one.
A Closer Look at the Ingredients
It is a short list, and each part matters:
- Wild garlic 140 g of leaves, which is a full carrier bag before you pick it over. Look for soft, sweet-smelling leaves early in the season; once the plant flowers they coarsen and turn harsh. Instead: ramps if you are in North America, leaves only and not the bulbs, or basil with an extra clove of garlic once the season is over.
- Orange Zest and juice, and the thing that separates this from every other wild garlic pesto. It goes in at the end with the pasta rather than into the processor, so the acid stays sharp instead of being blitzed into the oil. Instead: lemon, which is sharper and less floral, so start with half and taste.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano 70 g, finely grated. It is doing the seasoning as much as the flavour, which is why an under-salted pesto usually tastes of raw leaf. Instead: pecorino for something saltier and sharper, or a vegan hard cheese, or two tablespoons of nutritional yeast plus a little more salt.
- Pine nuts 70 g, and they give the pesto its body and a quiet sweetness against the garlic. They are also the most expensive thing in the bowl. Instead: walnuts for a richer, slightly tannic pesto, hazelnuts which suit the orange particularly well, or sunflower and pumpkin seeds for a nut-free version. Same weight whichever you pick.
- Garlic clove One raw clove, on top of all those leaves. Wild garlic is grassy and green rather than pungent, so the clove is what puts the actual heat back in. Leave it out if your leaves are young and strong, or use two if they are late in the season and mild.
- Olive oil 200 ml, and it is most of the sauce by volume, so use one you would happily eat off a spoon. Oil that has been open a while is already bitter and blitzing it hard makes that worse, which is the commonest reason a pesto tastes harsh. Instead: half olive and half light rapeseed if your olive oil is a strong peppery one.
- Rigatoni 400 g. The ridges and the hollow tube hold a coarse pesto in a way a smooth shape does not. Instead: fusilli traps it in the grooves, and spaghetti or linguine work if you loosen the pesto with a little more pasta water.
How to Forage Wild Garlic Safely
Wild garlic is one of the easiest plants to forage, but a few simple rules keep it safe and kind to the woods:
- Know the look-alikes. The safest test is the smell - crush a leaf and it should smell strongly of garlic. If you want a second check, look at the veins: wild garlic has one clear central rib with faint veining either side, while lords-and-ladies has waxy leaves whose veins fan out from the midrib to a vein running round the edge, and a lobed base where the leaf meets the stem. Lords-and-ladies also has no smell at all. Its leaves can look like lily of the valley, lords-and-ladies or autumn crocus, which are poisonous, so if it does not smell of garlic, leave it.
- Pick a little from each spot. Take only a few leaves per plant so the patch grows back year after year.
- Pick before it flowers. The leaves taste best in early spring, before the white flowers open.
- Forage legally. Only pick where it is allowed, and stay off private land and protected areas.
How to Make Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta, Step by Step
Five steps, and the whole thing takes about half an hour. The pesto is the quick part - it is the washing and drying of the leaves that takes the time, and it is worth doing properly.
- Wash the leaves and get everything ready. Wild garlic grows at ground level in woodland, so it comes in gritty. Rinse the leaves in a bowl of cold water rather than under the tap, lift them out and leave the grit behind, then dry them properly in a tea towel or a salad spinner. Wet leaves water the pesto down and it will not cling to the pasta. Weigh out the pine nuts and the cheese, peel the garlic clove, and zest and juice the orange now, because once the processor starts this moves quickly.
- Get the pasta on. Bring a large pan of water to a proper boil and salt it well, then cook the rigatoni to al dente. Before you drain it, take out a mugful of the cooking water. It is starchy and salted, and it is what turns pesto from a thick paste sitting on top of the pasta into a sauce that coats it. Forgetting it is the single commonest reason a pesto pasta comes out claggy.
- Make the pesto. Put the wild garlic, pine nuts, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, the garlic clove and about half the olive oil in the processor and blend, then pour in the rest of the oil in a thin stream with the motor running until it comes together. Work in short bursts rather than one long grind: a processor left running warms the leaves, and heat is what turns a bright green pesto dull and khaki. Season with salt and pepper and taste it now, while you can still fix it.
- Bring the pasta and pesto together. Tip the drained pasta into a large bowl, add a generous spoonful of pesto per portion and loosen it with a splash of the reserved water, adding more a little at a time until every piece is glossy rather than gluey. Then stir through the orange zest and juice. It goes in here rather than into the pesto on purpose - blitzed with the oil the orange gets lost, and stirred through at the end it stays bright and you can taste it.
- Serve it straight away. Pesto pasta does not sit well; the sauce tightens as it cools and the colour dulls within minutes. Into warm bowls, grate more Parmigiano over the top, and add a little more orange zest if you want the citrus to read clearly. A glass of something crisp and white suits it better than red.
Recipe Card for Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta
Easy Wild Garlic and Orange Pesto Pasta (Delicious Ramps Recipe)
Wild garlic blitzed into a pesto with pine nuts and Parmigiano, then loosened with pasta water and finished with orange zest and juice stirred through at the end rather than blended in.
Equipment I Use
Ingredients
Instructions
Wash and prepare the wild garlic leaves. Measure out the pasta, cheese, pine nuts, olive oil, and prepare the garlic clove. Zest and juice the orange.
Boil water in a large pot, add a pinch of salt, and cook the rigatoni until al dente, following the package instructions. Once cooked, drain the pasta and set it aside, reserving a bit of the pasta water.
In a food processor, combine the wild garlic leaves, pine nuts, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, the garlic clove and about half the olive oil. Blend in short bursts, then pour in the rest of the oil in a thin stream with the motor running, until it comes together as a coarse paste rather than a puree. A long grind warms the leaves and turns the colour from green to khaki. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked pasta with a generous amount of the wild garlic pesto. Add a bit of reserved pasta water to help the sauce coat the pasta evenly. Mix in the orange zest and juice, adjusting the quantities to suit your taste.
Transfer the pasta to serving bowls. Grate additional Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese over the top. Serve immediately, recommending a glass of red wine for an enhanced dining experience.
Chef’s notes
Makes about 400 g of pesto, which is more than the pasta needs. A heaped tablespoon a portion, loosened with the cooking water.
Dry the leaves properly. Wild garlic comes in gritty and wet; rinse in a bowl, lift the leaves out, then dry them or the pesto will not cling.
Short bursts in the processor. A long grind warms the leaves and the colour goes from green to khaki.
Keeping it: fridge up to 5 days under a thin layer of oil, or freeze in an ice-cube tray for about 3 months.
Nutrition per serving
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Variations
This pesto is easy to make your own. Here are a few simple swaps:
- Vegan Variations: To make it vegan, swap the Parmesan for a plant-based cheese, or a spoon of nutritional yeast for a cheesy taste without dairy.
- Nut and Seed Substitutions: Pine nuts are classic, but they are pricey. Sunflower seeds are a great, cheaper swap, and walnuts or almonds work well too.
- Pasta Choices: Rigatoni holds the pesto well, but any pasta works. Wholewheat adds a nutty taste and more fibre, and gluten-free pasta is fine too.
- Protein Boost: Add grilled chicken, prawns or chickpeas to make it more filling.
- Spice It Up: A pinch of chilli flakes adds a little warmth.
- Citrus Twists: Orange gives a gentle sweetness, but lemon or lime work well too for a sharper note.
- Beyond pasta: the pesto is not only a pasta sauce. Spread it on toast under a poached egg, stir a spoonful through a potato salad while the potatoes are still warm, fold it into mayonnaise for sandwiches, or drop a frozen cube into a bowl of soup just before serving.
Pin itWhat to Serve With Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta
This pesto pasta is lovely on its own, but here is how I like to serve it:
- With a simple green salad and some crusty bread to mop up the sauce.
- With a crisp white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, if you fancy a glass.
- Topped with extra grated Parmesan and a little more orange zest.
It also makes a lovely spring lunch after a bowl of my Spring Vegetable Soup with Peas, Asparagus & Dill.
Storage
Keep leftover pesto in a clean jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. Press it down and pour a thin layer of olive oil on top - this keeps the air out and stops it going brown. To keep it longer, freeze it in an ice-cube tray, then tip the frozen cubes into a bag; they keep for about 3 months and thaw in minutes. For the greenest colour, blanch the wild garlic leaves in boiling water for a few seconds and cool them in cold water before you blend.
FAQ for Wild Garlic Pesto Pasta
Can I make wild garlic pesto without wild garlic?
Yes - swap in fresh basil with a clove or two of raw garlic, or use ramps (wild leeks) or young spinach with garlic for a similar punch. If you love a good pasta dinner, try my Polish Lazanki or creamy Marry Me Pasta next.
How long does wild garlic pesto keep?
Store it in an airtight jar in the fridge for up to 5 days with a thin layer of olive oil on top, or freeze it in ice-cube trays for up to 3 months.
How do I keep the pesto bright green?
The orange helps a lot, but for the greenest colour you can blanch the leaves for a few seconds in boiling water, then cool them in cold water before blending. A layer of oil on top in the jar also stops it browning.
When is wild garlic in season?
Wild garlic (ramsons) is a spring forage, roughly March to May in the UK and Europe - look for it in damp, shady woodland.
How do I know I have picked real wild garlic?
Crush a leaf - it should smell strongly of garlic. If there is no garlic smell, do not use it, as a few poisonous plants like lily of the valley can look similar. When in doubt, leave it out.
Can I use a different pasta?
Absolutely - long shapes like spaghetti or linguine work well, as do short shapes like fusilli that trap the pesto in their grooves.
Is this recipe vegetarian or vegan?
It’s vegetarian as written. Leave out the Parmesan or use a vegan hard cheese to make it fully vegan.
Why does my wild garlic pesto taste bitter?
Four things cause it, and they are all fixable. The commonest is the oil: olive oil that has been open a while turns bitter on its own, and blitzing it hard makes that worse, so use one you would happily eat off a spoon. The second is the leaves themselves, which get harsher once the plant flowers, so pick early in the season. The third is under-seasoning, because salt and cheese are what round the raw leaf off. If it is still sharp after all that, a pinch of sugar or a small spoon of honey will settle it.
Can I use something other than pine nuts?
Yes, and most people do, because pine nuts are the most expensive thing in the bowl. Walnuts are the usual swap and give a richer, slightly tannic pesto. Hazelnuts are sweeter and suit the orange particularly well. Almonds and cashews both work and stay mild. For a nut-free version use sunflower or pumpkin seeds, which are cheap and hold up well. Use the same weight whichever you pick.
How much pesto does this make, and how much do I need per person?
The batch makes roughly 400 g of pesto, which is more than the 400 g of pasta needs. Reckon on a heaped tablespoon per portion, loosened with the pasta water, and taste as you go, because wild garlic varies a lot in strength. Whatever is left keeps in the fridge under a layer of oil, or freezes in an ice-cube tray.
Can I use the flowers and the seed pods?
The white star-shaped flowers are edible and pretty scattered over the finished plate, with a milder garlic flavour than the leaves. The green seed pods that follow are much stronger, closer to a caper in punch, and are better pickled than blended. Once the plant is in full flower the leaves themselves start to coarsen, so that is your signal that the picking season is closing.
A Few Words from the Chef
Wild garlic season is short, so I always make a big batch of this pesto while I can. If you get out foraging and give it a go, I would love to hear how it went - leave a comment and a star rating below. Smacznego!
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