Pesto is a green nutritional powerhouse that’s incredibly versatile and goes with pretty much anything, but I always take the 5 minutes to make it for myself from scratch. Conventionally bought pestos often contain dairy from questionable sources and easily become stale and bland from sitting on the shelf for so long, usually shipped far distances from a different latitude. Honestly, not worth it.
Making your own pesto is a chance to customise and throw whatever’s growing out there into it—the possibilities are endless, and all you need is a blender or food processor. This version uses all organic and wildcrafted ingredients, and it’s SO easy to throw together that it’s pretty much a crime if you don’t make your own pesto. It’s like nature’s multivitamin and life force vehicle, facilitating our innate detox capability (glutathione) so that we can adapt, survive and THRIVE. Lately I’ve been using freshly foraged wild ramps, other leafy greens, dulse, and activated walnuts—I put this sh*t on everything and even lick it off of a spoon sometimes (don’t judge).
Read more about my experience foraging wild ramps here.
Why activate the walnuts?
The Native American ancestors knew how to render various plant foods bioavailable (aka properly prepared into bioavailable nutrition). In post-industrial societies with fast-paced schedules, modern humans have forgotten this, evident in the depleted vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based diets. It’s time to bring back correct food preparation so that we don’t have to stress about the anti-nutrients inherent in various plant foods (on top of exponentially nutritionally depleted agricultural mono-cropped soils), and get back to the classic, nutrient-dense, bioavailable Neolithic diet that we evolved on.
When it comes to walnuts and other whole nuts, you’ll want to ensure they’re raw (viable) so they can be activated (sprouted) before consuming. For best outcome, you’ll also want to ensure they’re soaked in spring or filtered water to destroy enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients, ease the digestive burden and increase bioavailability, essentially awakening them for the fullest spectrum absorption. Natural waters used to contain abundant mineral salts, and ancient wisdom ensured that the most nutrients were accounted for as possible.
- Fill a glass Mason jar with the required amount of walnuts
- Fill the jar and cover the walnuts with water, about an inch covering the walnuts
- To the jar, add 1/2 tbsp pure Magnesium chloride flakes/powder, and 1/2 tbsp sea salt.
- Close lid, shake until flakes and salt are dissolved in the solution
- Set on the counter and let soak 12-24 hours (walnuts are larger so about 24 hours will suffice, smaller seeds can take 12-ish hours)
- Change water throughout the process if needed, though not necessary
- Water will be murky once time is up, simply drain and rinse the walnuts for use
- Optional: dry walnuts in the sunlight or at lowest temp in the oven
If you can’t be bothered to activate walnuts, feel free to use hemp seeds or macadamia nuts as is (they’re bioavailable enough without the need for preparation).
Ingredients you’ll need for this wild ramp pesto
- Wild foraged ramp leaves (sustainably harvested)
- Seasonal herbs or other leafy greens (I used kale and mint)
- Wild dulse flakes (or other local sea vegetable)
- Wildcrafted pine pollen (optional)
- Wild spruce tips (optional)
- Biodynamic (legitimate) olive oil
- Activated walnuts
- Ground flax seeds (you know, for extra benefits)
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh lemon
- Apple cider vinegar (optional, use if you want it to keep longer in the fridge as it’ll ferment the pesto and unlock even more benefits)
- Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
You might also like these recipes
Spring forest pesto with spruce tips
Tart cherry melatonin sleep gummies
Spring cleanse salad with spiced activated nuts and mustard flax seed dressing
If you tried this wild ramp pesto with dulse and walnuts or any other recipe on this blog, let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment below. Be sure to follow along for more inspiration at Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook.
Wild ramp pesto with dulse and walnuts
Equipment
- Food processor or blender
Ingredients
Activated walnut solution
- Spring or filtered water, as needed
- 1/2 tbsp magnesium chloride flakes
- 1/2 tbsp sea salt flakes
Pesto
- 4 handfuls wild foraged ramps, aka leeks
- 4 handfuls organic leafy greens of your choice
- 1 tbsp wild dulse flakes or other local sea vegetable
- 1/3 cup activated organic walnuts
- 1 tbsp ground organic flax seeds
- 1/2 cup biodynamic olive oil
- freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 organic lemon + zest
- 2-3 cloves organic garlic
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste I like 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp wildcrafted pine pollen optional
- 1/3 cup wild spruce tips optional
- 1 tbsp raw organic apple cider vinegar optional, to preserve longer in the refrigerator
Instructions
- Activate the nuts. Soak walnuts in spring or filtered water for 12-24 hours with 1/2 tbsp magnesium and 1/2 tbsp sea salt. When ready, rinse and drain to use.
- Throw all ingredients into a blender/food processor. Blend and scrape out into a glass jar. Store in refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
- Keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week. Simply use a spoon to dig it out and use as a topping, dressing, condiment, sauce, etc.
- Keeps even longer (over several weeks) if you add in the apple cider vinegar which will ferment the pesto over time.
