Wild Garlic - The healing herb
You know the year is getting under way when wild garlic is starting the sprout, and spring is really about to kick into gear. Late February every year I go to my secret spot where the garlic grows in huge swathes, a damp stream fed wood. Throughout March the garlic grows rapidly and through to June it will still be growing, although I prefer to harvest it early before the white flowers emerge, you cant mistake the smell of it when walking through certain wooded areas.
It is a favourite of mine to forage, easy to identify and easy to harvest and made into some great culinary treats that will last all year until the next harvest.
Wild Garlic is known for its antibacterial, antibiotic and antiviral properties, and contains vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and copper, a real superfood!
A timelapse of growth of wild garlic throughout March
Wild Garlic Harvest
The girls getting involved with the harvest of the garlic!
Wild Garlic Salt
Wild garlic salt is the easiest thing to make from the garlic and most effective and can be used in nearly every meal, the smell and flavour is unreal, I use Maldon salt and the garlic leaves. I batch made 1kg of the salt, I used 100g or so of garlic leaves and blitz in the blender until finely blended.
Add the salt to a mixing bowl and add the blended garlic leaves and mix in, the salt will go a vivid green, I have seen others dry the salt naturally, however I opt to add the salt to the oven to speed up this process.
Wild Garlic Butter
250g unsalted butter softened
Maldon Salt
50g wild garlic leaves, finely chopped
I batch made the butter and used 1kg of unsalted butter. So I used 200g of wild garlic leaves.
Remove the stalks from the leaves, and add blitz until finely blended, remove from the blender and put to one side, chop the butter and add to the blender, and keep adding it until the butter starts to become a smooth paste, add some salt to taste, and then add the garlic leaves, keep blend in slowly until mixed in well, remove from the blender and into a bowl.
I made logs out of the butter and it is relatively easy to do using cling film and then adding it to baking paper and tying the ends, its then perfect for steaks and for garlic bread.
Hybrid Pesto
Pistachios 100g
Garlic bulb x1
Wild garlic 300g
Lemon zest
Lemon Juice
Olive oil
Salt
No cheese!
One other great recipe is Wild Garlic pesto, I have switched out a couple of ingredients to suit.
Rinse the garlic leaves, cut or rip the stalks off by hand leaving only the leaf, remove the pistachios from their shells and add to the blender and add to the blender and blitz until they become granular.
Remove the pistachios and add the garlic leaves and blitz, add the garlic bulb, and lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon, then add the pistachios and continue to blend.
When adding the oil I slowly add it glug by glug, i never really measure, and do so until the mix begins to bind into a paste. When complete add to jars and refrigerate. I also put some of the pesto into Ice cube racks, freeze and use in pastas.