Spring Foraging Recipes
There’s (almost) nothing we love more than Spring Foraging! Obviously because it features our favourite forage- wild garlic! We’re sharing our favourite wild garlic recipes, so get out and get foraging!
Wild garlic, also known as ramsons, grows in shady woodlands and tends to carpet the ground in the spring.
There are a few things you can potentially confuse wild garlic with, including Lily of the Valley and Lords and Ladies. If it smells like garlic, you’ve almost definitely got the right thing- but as always, if you’re not sure, don’t take the risk! Learn more about how to identify wild garlic during your spring foraging here.
Wild Garlic Butter
Simply mash your slightly softened butter together with your finely sliced wild garlic leaves and roll up into a log in grease proof paper. This butter will keep for a while in the fridge, but we usually make a few batches and freeze it.
Use the butter to make garlic bread, chicken kiev, cheese toasties, top a steak or a jacket potato- you’ll never look back!
Spring Foraging Soup
Fry off onion, leek, celery, carrot and potato in a little oil til soft, then cover with stock. Cook for about ten minutes before adding a few handfuls of nettle leaves, and wild garlic leaves. Blend, then add a splash of milk and season to taste. Serving this with a few wild garlic flowers looks (and tastes) great!
Wild Garlic Pesto
A classic for our spring foraging. You can mix this recipe up by using other spring greens like nettles and cleavers. Whizz wild garlic leaves in a food processor with parmesan, lemon zest and pine nuts, and season. Add oil to reach your desired consistency, and a generous squeeze of lemon juice. Store in a clean jar, topping the pesto with a little more oil, in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Experiment with adding other ingredients- try peanuts or sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts.
Epic with pasta, fish, or on a pizza.
Pickled Wild Garlic Buds
One of our all time favourite ways to store wild garlic for the future is by pickling the immature seed pods. Make a simple pickling liquor by boiling water sugar and cider vinegar, and add any extra flavourings you like- peppercorns, fresh thyme or mustard seeds all work great.
These pickled buds will keep for about 6 months and are great as a garnish, in creamy sauces, sprinkled on salads or pizzas, and you’ll even find us eating them straight from the jar! A spring foraging highlight!
As with all foraging, it’s important not to eat anything you’re not 100% able to identify. Consult a book, app, or professional forager.
There are so many uses and recipes for wild garlic to suit every level of culinary prowess- there’s a reason it’s one of our favourite during spring foraging! Want to learn more? We run foraging walks and courses year round.
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