Spring Spaghetti with Wild Garlic Pesto and Roasted Zucchini

Spring Spaghetti with wild garlic and almond pesto, roasted zucchini, and green peas is a fresh and light recipe full of seasonal flavors.

Wild garlic, also known as ramsons, is a springtime delicacy that you can forage or find at farmers' markets. It has beautiful, large green leaves, an unmistakable garlic scent, and a deep yet light garlic taste. It’s especially delicious for making soups, herb oil, herbed butter, and pesto.

If you are lucky and can buy (or forage) lots of wild garlic, make as much pesto as possible since the season is very short. You can store the pesto in the fridge for up to a week, or you can freeze it, so you can have wild garlic pesto for the next months. It’s best to freeze pesto in ice cube trays, then store the pesto cubes in an airtight container.

If you can’t find wild garlic, you can achieve a similar taste by using baby spinach and garlic in this recipe. You can also add a handful of chives for extra flavor.

Wild garlic goes really well with most spring vegetables, so you can add any of your favorites here. For example broccoli, asparagus, kohlrabi, radish, chickpeas, and cauliflower are all awesome.

Want to make this on a budget?

• Forage your own wild garlic. It’s a fun program and you get free food
• If you can’t find wild garlic, you can use spinach and garlic for a similar taste instead
• Use frozen green peas, instead of fresh ones. Or choose other budget-friendly extras like corn, cabbage, or carrot
• Don’t throw away the leftovers. Serve them cold as a pasta salad

Want to make the recipe even healthier?

• Choose whole wheat or legume-based pasta
• Make your pesto oil-free. Simply add half an avocado to the mix instead of oil
• Double or triple the amount of veggies in the recipe. You can also add extras like broccoli, green beans, leek, kale, okra, or artichokes

Want to make this really fancy?

• Use a really good quality, flavorful olive oil for the pesto
• Make your own pasta. Nothing beats fresh, homemade pasta. Alternatively buy fresh pasta instead of dry
• Top the spaghetti with toasted pine nuts, garlic flowers, and lots of grated or shaved vegan parmesan
• Decorate your plate with fresh microgreens and edible flowers
• Serve vegan salmon or steak with the pasta

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 20 mins

Spring Spaghetti with Wild Garlic Pesto and Roasted Zucchini

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 11 oz / 320 g (whole wheat) spaghetti (choose GF if needed)
• 1 cup of frozen or fresh green peas
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
• salt, pepper

For the pesto:

• 3.5 oz / 100 g wild garlic
• 1/2 cup / 75 g almonds, toasted
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4-1/2 cup olive oil
• salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Prepare pasta according to package instructions. Add green peas to the cooking water at the last minute of cooking. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat up olive oil in a pan over high heat. Add zucchini slices, and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is golden brown.
3. For the pesto add wild garlic, almonds, nutritional yeast or parmesan, and lemon juice to a food processor. Start processing, then slowly pour in olive oil, until desired consistency is reached. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add pesto and zucchini to pasta and peas, and mix well together. Serve with extra nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan on top.

Nutritionals

Calories 553 | Total Fat 39.5g | Saturated Fat 5.1g | Cholesterol 0mg | Sodium 1756mg | Total Carbohydrate 42.3g | Dietary Fiber 13.6g | Total Sugars 8.3g | Protein 17.1g | Calcium 81mg | Iron 3mg | Potassium 572mg |