Wild Garlic Season

Wild garlic grows in shady damp woodland and I'm lucky that here in my local area it grows in absolute abundance. It's an easy leaf to forage for, partly because it is so distinctive that there is no mistaking what you are getting, but also because you can pick a huge handful from a small area without having any impact on the plants at all. So long as you just pick/snip the leaves without disturbing the bulb in the ground, the plants will continue to grow and spread for years to come.

Right now is a good time to gather wild garlic as the tender young leaves (before the flowers bloom) are full of fresh garlicky flavour. I finally went on a foraging expedition last week and collected some to bring home to eat.

The exciting thing was that I didn't need to go tramping about in the woods with the general public as I had a personal invitation from a good friend to go rootling around in her private shady borders. So I was at my friends a week or so ago, a really great few hours where I was able to sit in a sheltered sunny spot in her garden with my flask of coffee and crochet and catch up with a few of my yarny friends at long last. I was thrilled to be let loose to forage to my hearts content, and oh my goodness, the scent of this stuff is just out of this world. It's the very definition of Spring Green in smell form.

As soon as I got home I whizzed up some fresh wild garlic pesto - I only made a small quantity as it was for my own personal consumption. I looked at a few recipes online and worked out that the ratio of ingredients seemed to be roughly along the lines of 1:1:3. And by that I mean one part parmesan, one part toasted pine nuts and three parts wild garlic.

For my small dollop of pesto (which was about four portions), I used :

20g parmesan

20g toasted pine nuts

60g wild garlic

A generous squeeze of lemon juice

Olive oil - just enough to enable the blitzing to happen without it being too oily.

The whole lot gets whizzed up in a mini food processor to make a wildly green chunky paste which smells intoxicatingly of garlic. 

I tossed a small dollop through a bowl of spaghetti for my lunch, adding in some sun dried tomatoes as well as some fresh baby plum tomatoes. The whole bowl was utter Spring deliciousness. 

This pesto is pretty powerful stuff and a little went a long way so I ended up making a few similar lunches last week, sometimes adding a crumble of feta to the top, or a bit of shredded cooked chicken. It will keep in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks, but be warned, this is veeeeeeeeery garlicky!

With the remainder of my foraged bounty I made soup. I concocted the recipe myself, and it was absolutely delicious I have to say.

Here is my recipe, should you wish to try it - you could always substitute spinach if you can't get your hands on wild garlic, adding a crushed garlic clove to the celery and leeks instead.

WILD GARLIC SOUP

2 x celery sticks, finely chopped

2 x medium leeks, finely sliced

a knob of butter and a glug of olive oil

2 x white potatoes, cubed into small pieces

600ml vegetable stock

Large handful of roughly chopped wild garlic leaves, maybe around 100-120g (I didn't weigh what I used, so guessing on the grams)

A splash of milk (again, I didn't measure, but I would guess 2 tablespoons/30ml)

And here is the way to go forth into soupy heaven....

1. Melt the olive oil and butter  in a frying pan and sauté the celery and leeks over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until softened.

2. Add in the potatoes and veggie stock and simmer for 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are soft.

3. Add in the wild garlic leaves and simmer for 2 minutes more until the leaves wilt but stay nice and green.

4. Lastly, add a splash of milk , season well with salt and pepper, then blitz until smooth and creamy. 

Ooooo, I've just found another really yummy looking recipe - white bean and wild garlic hummus which is right up my street. I think my early morning wake-up walk may well involve some wild garlic foraging tomorrow.

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Tanvir Ahmed]

Hi Lucy,
Can I use this Wild garlic in saute?

[Milagros Baldomero]

Wild garlic soup and Pesto! Fantastic. :-)

[Lyanne]

Ooh, that wild garlic soup looks so good! I'm lucky enough to have some growing in the garden.

[karen price]

I've been eating wild garlic, nettle and spinach soup all week. Wild garlic cheese scones are amazing. Your post reminded me about them so will make some tomorow to go with the wild garlic pesto. I have a lot of wild garlic near me!

[gracie]

Oh that pasta dish looks delicious.

[Kate]

I am totally envious of your access to wild garlic - it doesn't even grow in our neck of the woods. The pesto and soup both look delicious!

[Sue Hirst]

Lovely recipes Lucy & beautiful photographs, thank you. Try adding some nettles to the mix to reduce the garlicky-ness - wear gloves! I like to see whether I can get them past the family without them noticing - “oh it’s just Green Soup” 😋👍. Have a lovely Sunday, love from sunny Essex, Sue xx

[Mami Made It]

I love Wild Garlic pesto too. I love seasonal vegetables. You eat so much of them and then it's OK till next year. Same with chanterelles :)
Petra

[Alice Le Mero]

Oo yumm!! We use to live near loads of wild garlic but I haven't seen any up here in scotland, maybe I've just not been looking hard enough, I might need to go on a hunt for some wild garlic!

[Tineke]

You better watch out with those delicious recipes, Lucy, now all of us go foraging the woods empty. XD Looks delicious all.

[Christine]

I was given some unknown seeds and sowed them, along with some other unknowns, round the pond when we finished digging it out. I look forward to seeing my little patch of green and white in the back corner every year. Don't think I could reach them to harvest some leaves though.... that soup sounds delish!

[Eve M]

I used to live in an area where wild garlic grew prolifically and it was known as Ramsons locally. One springtime I was lucky enough to be given a Giant Puffball. If you ever get a chance to try one of these amazing fungus they are especially delicious sliced about half an inch thick and gently sauteed in butter with some chopped Ramsoms.
Thank you Lucy for sharing your pesto recipe, and for all your beautiful crochet patterns.

[Anna]

My whole family love wild garlic on pizza and in dough balls. I have I BS so can’t tolerate normal garlic, wild garlic if fine 😁. So this time of year is a real treat, I substitute wild garlic in pretty much everything l. I hope this is helpful for someone else too. Thanks for sharing Lucy,

[Judith]

I just made some basil pesto using the basil from our garden. So fresh.

[Teresa Kasner]

It all looks delicious, Lucy! You're getting to be quite the chef! Have a super week.

((hugs)), Teresa :-)

[kathleenalice]

We are lucky enough to have it in our garden. I tear the leaves and the flowers into salads, delicious 😃

[Susan]

Although allergic to garlic, I loved reading about your foraging & playing in the kitchen. Seems you had some fun and an enjoyable day at your friends catching up with others too. Take care & hugs.

[CJ]

Mmm, it all sounds delicious. I do love a bit of foraging, there's something very reassuring about finding your own food in the wild. CJ xx

[Natalie]

I adore Wild Garlic pesto and your soup recipe sounds yummy. My husband was just asking me what I want to do tomorrow and I think now I have my answer. Foraging!