Our regular Riverford box included a bag of the freshest and most fragrant wild garlic leaves - or ramsons, as they are known. I used them straight away in a simple but scrummy soup. This is a little like a watercress soup, but with the elusive and subtle taste of wild garlic. Simply saute an onion and leek in about 25g of butter until softened, add a chopped potato and a handful of washed wild garlic leaves. Just cover with veg stock and simmer for 20 minutes. Add another handful of wild garlic and blend until a vivid green, smooth soup. Add a little milk or cream if liked and tuck in before the colour and aroma fades. We felt very healthy eating this soup, all that fresh ferrous greenery and the goodness of all the aliums. If you have a patch of woodland near you, do gather some of this, and try it stirred into risotto or chopped and baked with potatoes in a dauphinois. I shall add some to a stuffing for chicken on Sunday too - endlessly versatile and so good for you.
We had some last week, and made some seriously funky pesto-strictly for nights in!! Just blitzed the leaves in the food processor with pine nuts, Parmesan and olive oil-no garlic required!!- and serve with pasta. Seriously potent! I reckon it would have been pretty lovely on a lamb chop too.
ReplyDeleteLamb chop and some mashed potato- gosh if there's wild garlic at the stall tomorrow I'm doing that for sure!!
ReplyDeleteWe have ordered some more for next week and will definitely make the pesto. Love the idea of it stirred into mash too, in fact we might stir some of the pesto into mash after we've gorged on pasta. Thanks for the tip!
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