FORAGING FOR WILD GARLIC

Every year, during the months of March and April, I take to the woods and forage for one of my favourite herbs. Just like the season it flourishes in, the flavour of wild garlic blooms as you eat it, parting its aroma and flavour slowly, unlike its namesake cousin who is more overt about its character.

FLOWERING WILD GARLIC IN THE LATER STAGES OF THE SEASON

My go-to recipe is pesto, of which there are two methods: one is quick, but relies on having a food processor, and the other is a slower method using a mortar and pestle.

WILD GARLIC PESTO - FOOD PROCESSOR METHOD

“Time is of the essence” you say, “I want to spend the time EATING the pesto.” I hear ya. I’ll keep this short

You’ll need:

• Wild garlic leaves

• Nuts - I used 70% cashews & 30% walnuts for this recipe but you can use pretty much any nut

• Hard Cheese - Parmesan is the most common, adding more than one kind of cheese will give a depth of flavour. I added Piave, (a northern Italian cheese) to this recipe since I had some already.

• Olive oil

• Sea sat

• Food processor or a Mortar & Pestle

a note on ingredients

Pesto follows a template composed of the fIVE ingredients. Technique doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the ingredients, and you can make it as you like by modifying ratioS and texture.

STEP 1: kamikaze blitz

Blitz the everything in the food processor, except for the cheese and oil. Grate the cheese.

Go only to only to the point of a rough paste - this is not a smoothie . Overdoing it in the processor tends to bring out bitterness.

STEP 2: COMBINE

Add the olive oil SLOOOOWLY, it will emulsify and go a bit cloudy.

STEP 3: REFINE THE FLAVOUR

Mix in the grated cheese until the mixture looks even. Taste test at this point and add more salt and/or cheese

STEP 4: STORAGE

Once its ready, pop it in a jar or container. Top up with a layer of olive oil to keep the air out. This will preserve it for 4-6 weeks, if not disturbed.

I also like to freeze the pesto and have wild garlic when the season is over. Its easy to pop out and make a pesto pasta or to defrost and use as a sauce over steamed/roasted veg

IF YOU KEEP IN A BEAUTIFUL CONTAINER, YOU CAN WHP IT OUT OF THE FRIDGE AS IS, FOR DINNER PARTIES

WILD GARLIC PESTO - CLASSIC MORTAR & PESTLE METHOD

Kudos to you for taking the time to make this pesto, whatever your reason. There are some advantages to this method.

You’ll need:

• Wild garlic leaves

• Nuts - I used 70% cashews & 30% walnuts for this recipe but you can use pretty much any nut

• Hard Cheese - Parmesan is the most common, adding more than one kind of cheese will give a depth of flavour. I added Piave, (a northern Italian cheese) to this recipe since I had some already.

• Olive oil

• Sea sat

• Food processor or a Mortar & Pestle

a note on ingredients

Pesto follows a template composed of the four ingredients. Technique doesn’t matter as much as the quality of the ingredients, and you can make it as you like by modifying ratio and texture.

STEP 1

Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves. Pat to dry or leave it to air dry.

Gather any past anger and bash the leaves with a pinch of sea salt into a coarse paste using a mortar and pestle.

STEP 2: COMBINE

If you are using larger nuts than pine nuts, bash the nuts into smaller chunks before adding to your wild garlic paste.

STEP 3

Slowly add the olive oil and mush it into the paste. Then add the grated cheese and keep mixing.

NOTE: YOU CAN BASH/MUSH/GRATE THE INGREDIENTS SEPARATELY AN D COMBINE BUT YOU DO NEED TO MIX THE OLIVE OIL AS YOU MIX IT SO THAT IT EMULSIFIES.

SETP 4

Mix in the grated cheese until the mixture looks even. Taste test at this point and add more salt and/or cheese

LAYER OF OLIVE OIL TO KEEP AIR OUT

SAVED TAKEAWAY SAUCE CONTAINERS FOR FREEZING ARE THE PERFECT MEAL SERVING SIZE

STEP 5: STORAGE

Once its ready, pop it in a jar or container. Top up with a layer of olive oil to keep the air out. This will preserve it for 4-6 weeks, if not disturbed.

I also like to freeze the pesto and have wild garlic when the season is over. Its easy to pop out and make a pesto pasta or to defrost and use as a sauce over steamed/roasted veg