Vegan Pesto made with bärlauch, radish greens, and ancho chile

Last night I improvised a pesto. Improvisations are great ways to learn what works and what doesn’t.

Previously, I had made a vegan pesto inspired by delicious days’ radish green pesto. To radish greens, I added wild garlic or bear’s-paw garlic (what Germans call bärlauch), sunflower seeds, lemon juice and zest, salt, and olive oil. The radish greens give a peppery bite and a bright green to the pesto. Spring spreadable on bread!

Since I had some dried ancho chile peppers from my December trip to Mexico, I thought last night that they might be a good replacement for sun-dried tomatoes, so I added an entire rehydrated ancho chile to my pesto. Normally, smoky and sour and hot, the chile was perhaps not the best substitute for sun-dried tomatoes. In fact, it fairly overpowered the delicate spiciness of the radish greens and the delicate garlic flavor of the bear’s-paw garlic.

The pesto was still delicious last night on pumpkin seed bread under radish slices and tempeh, but restraint with the chile would work better next time.