Wild garlic leaves have a fresh spring flavour that can be used in many different ways. Sometimes simple is best and in this Delicious magazine recipe the wild garlic contrasts beautifully with the creamy mash.
Serves: 4-6
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1.5kg floury potatoes, cut into chunks
50g unsalted butter
50g wild garlic leaves, sliced
generous splash of double cream
grating of nutmeg
Method
Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until very tender, then drain and return to the pan briefly over a low heat to dry.
Melt the butter in a small pan and fry the wild garlic for 30 seconds. Mash the potatoes with the cream, nutmeg and most of the garlicky butter. Stir through the fried wild garlic and the rest of the butter. Taste, season and serve.
Try these other ways of using wild garlic leaves on the recipes page on our website:-
Wild garlic frittata
Wild garlic and cheese muffins
Camel CSA’s chair Diana Barry recommends this River Cottage Handbook No.8 Pam Corbin recipe for wild garlic. Pam says: “It’s heady, yet sweet aroma combines beautifully with strong Cheddar to make moreishly good muffins.”
Makes 10 large muffins
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp English mustard powder or 1/2 rsp cayenne pepper (optional)
125ml milk
125ml plain yogurt
1 egg
100ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
2 level tbsp finely chopped wild garlic leaves (about 20 leaves)
100-150g strong Cheddar cheese, grated
5 cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6. Sift the first five ingredients into a medium mixing bowl, making sure they are evenly blended together.
Put the milk, yogurt, egg, oil, chopped garlic leaves and three-quarters of the cheese into a large mixing bowl. Beat together until well combined and the mture is like a very thick batter. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir very lightly, scraping son the sides, until just combined, with no clumps of dried flour lurking in the bottom of the bowl.
Place 10 muffin cases in a muffin tray with holes 2cm deep / 6.5cm diameter. Divide the mixture between the cases, filling each 3/4 full. Place half a tomato, if using, on top of each muffin and sprinkle with the remaining sheese.
Bake in the oven until well risen and golden on top.They should spring back into shape when touched lightly.
Newly-laid eggs are the perfect partner for wild garlic during its short season in Cornwall. This tasty and colourful recipe from Demuths Vegetarian Cookery School is delicious served with the red kale or purple sprouting broccoli in our weekly veg boxes.
Serves: 2
Preparation and cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
1 medium potato peeled and diced very small
1 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs
50g ricotta
25g vegetarian-style Parmesan, grated
1 large handful of young wild garlic leaves, chopped roughly
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
In a 24cm frying pan, one without a plastic handle, heat the olive oil and gently sauté the potato, with a lid on until cooked, which takes about 10 minutes.
In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs with 2/3rds of the ricotta and parmesan, add the wild garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add the egg mix to the potatoes and cook on a gentle heat, until almost set. You will need to run a heatproof spatula around the frittata to stop it from sticking.
Pre-heat the grill. Scatter the remaining ricotta and parmesan over the top of the frittata and grill until the top is golden. Serve at once cut into wedges. with wild garlic leaves drizzled with your favourite nut or olive oil.
Tips
Flavour frittatas with whatever is in season, spring onions and peas with chervil, steamed asparagus tips with fresh mint, sweet tomatoes with basil or wild mushrooms with tarragon.
A simple supper dish to celebrate the start of spring here in Cornwall. Jamie Oliver says: “This garlicky pasta has a deep, earthy flavour – totally delicious with the Cumberland sausage.”
Serves: 4
Preparation/cooking time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
2 heaped teaspoons fennel seeds
2 dried red chillies, crumbled
olive oil
4 higher-welfare coarse Italian or Cumberland sausages
4 handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed
320g fusilli
1 lemon
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 small handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method
Bash up the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar, then put to one side. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Cut open the sausage skins and squeeze the meat into the pan. Stir it around with a wooden spoon, breaking it up into small pieces so it resembles coarse mince. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to colour and the fat has started to render out.
Add the bashed up fennel seeds and chillies to the meat, and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat is crisp, dark golden brown and caramelised. Turn the heat down to low.
Put a large saucepan of salted water on to boil. Blanch the wild garlic leaves in the boiling water for 3 minutes, then scoop out and put in a food processor. Add the fusilli to the water, bring it back to the boil and cook according to the packet instructions. Blitz the leaves in the food processor until you have a deep green sauce, then add a glug of olive oil, a grating of lemon zest and a pinch of salt and pepper.
When the pasta is al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water. Put the pasta back in the saucepan and add a splash of the cooking water and a squeeze of lemon juice. Gently stir the lovely green sauce into the pasta to coat it then immediately divide the pasta between your bowls. Top with the delicious crisp sausage meat and a nice grating of Parmesan cheese, and serve.
I can’t remember where I got the original recipe for wild garlic risotto but I have been making it for a few years when I remember to forage wild garlic.
Serves 3
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
30 g butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
250 g Arborio rice
splash white wine
1 l chicken or vegetable stock
large handful wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
50 g Parmesan cheese, grated
Method
Heat the half the butter and the oil in a heavy saucepan and cook the onion and garlic slowly for about 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir to coat the rice in the garlic and onion mixture. Add the wine, turn up the heat and stir until the wine has been absorbed. Add stock until the rice is just covered and turn down the heat so that the rice is at a simmer. Keep adding stock as it is absorbed. After about 10 minutes add the wild garlic leaves and stir into the rice. Once the rice is just cooked but still has some bite, add the rest of the butter and the cheese. Season to taste and serve.
I foraged the wild garlic in Camel CSA’s standard boxes this week from woods near our veg-growing site. This invasive plant makes a delicious, if slightly pungent, pesto. I recommend you serve it warm: stir it through freshly-cooked pasta or mash, swirl it into soups and casseroles or use it as a topping on pizzas*.
Preparation / cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
100g wild garlic leaves OR 50g wild garlic leaves and 50g parsley
50g lightly toasted pinenuts or cashews or walnuts
50g grated parmesan cheese
150ml olive or rapeseed oil
squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Method
Pick the leaves over. Make sure you discard any flowers, coarse stalks, stray pieces of grass, dirty or damaged leaves. Blitz the garlic leaves (plus parsley if used), lemon juice and toasted nuts in a food processor or liquidiser for a minute or two. Then gradually blend in 100ml of the olive oil. Lastly, mix in the grated cheese, salt and pepper.
This will keep up to three weeks in the fridge in a clean sterilised screwtop jar. Press the pesto down firmly to remove any air pockets. Seal the surface with the remaining olive oil to help it keep well.
* Thanks to the Red Lion, St Kew Highway for the pizza suggestion
A simple way of using the wet garlic in Camel CSA’s boxes this week comes from Riverford Organic Farms in neighbouring Devon. You could also use wild garlic leaves instead.
“Wet” or green garlic is freshly-harvested garlic that hasn’t been hung up to dry. It’s sweeter, milder and less pungent at this stage. You simply slice it up – bulb, stalk, leaves and all – into salads, stir fries or risotto. Or you can roast it whole.
Usefully, this is a salad recipe for one! It’s also good made with broad beans and rocket.
Serves: 1
Preparation / cooking time: 12 minutes
Ingredients
40g cooked pasta, preferably orecchiette or another small pasta
40g cooked white beans, eg cannellini or haricot (drained, tinned beans are fine to use)
a little oil for frying
small handful finely sliced wet garlic OR large handful wild garlic leaves
large handful salad leaves or watercress
juice ½ lemon
approx 2 tbsp feta cheese, crumbled
freshly ground pepper to season
Method
In a small frying pan, heat the oil and fry the wet garlic for a couple of mins, until just softened slightly. If using wild garlic, just wilt the leaves quickly.
Remove and drain on kitchen paper, and leave to cool. Place in a bowl and toss with the pasta, beans, lemon juice, lettuce and just enough extra virgin olive oil to coat the salad.
Season with pepper and transfer to a serving bowl. Crumble over the feta cheese to serve.
