wild garlic – Bangers & Mash

Wild garlic pesto tear & share bread

May 19, 2014May 28, 2014Posted in Bread, Recipes, VegetarianTagged bread, pesto, wild garlic12 Comments

The lanes near our house have been heavy with the heady scent of wild garlic flowers in the last few days, the warmth of the late spring sunshine increasing their intensity. We’re nearing the end of the wild garlic season, so I’ll be picking one last harvest to make up a big batch of wild garlic pesto. It freezes beautifully and will provide us with a taste of English spring for many months to come.

The pesto is delicious simply stirred through a bowlful of pasta or spread on toasted bread to create bruschetta. It’s also wonderful in this easy tear-and-share bread, a perfect accompaniment to cold meats and cheeses as part of a buffet lunch or a springtime picnic.

Wild garlic pesto tear & share bread

Makes 8 bread rolls

400g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 x 7g sachet fast action dried yeast
250ml water
1 tbsp olive oil
half a jar of wild garlic pesto – see my recipe here

Put the flour, salt and dried yeast into a large mixing bowl and combine.

Make a well in the middle and pour in the water and oil. Gradually work the flour into the liquid to form a soft dough. If it’s too dry, add a drop more water. If it’s too sticky, add some more flour.

Flour the work surface before tipping the dough onto it. Knead the dough for five to ten minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover loosely with cling film and put in a warm place for about an hour, until the dough has doubled in size.

Grease and flour a 20cm round cake tin.

Uncover the risen dough and punch it back down. Flour the surface again and divide the dough into eight equal portions.

Roll each portion of dough into a rough rectangle, approximately 20cm by 10cm. Spread each rectangle generously with wild garlic pesto and roll up carefully into a tidy spiral. Stand each spiral into the prepared cake tin, spacing them out to allow them room to spread.

Cover loosely with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave to rise again for another 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6 or use the middle of the top oven of an Aga.

When the bread has risen again, place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Place the tin on a wire rack and leave to cool for 10 minutes before turning out. Lovely eaten while still warm, drizzled with a little olive oil.

As this bread makes use of a sensational spring ingredient, I’m entering it into this month’s Four Season’s Food challenge hosted by Eat Your Veg and Delicieux where the theme is Celebrating Spring.

And as it’s a very seasonal recipe, I’m also entering it into Simple and in Season hosted by Ren Behan.

Finally as it features wild herbs, I’m sharing it with Karen at Lavender & Lovage in this month’s Cooking with Herbs challenge.

Spaghetti with wild garlic pesto

May 2, 2012April 25, 2017Posted in Recipes, VegetarianTagged family food, pasta, pesto, recipe, spaghetti, wild garlic8 Comments

I’ve been swept away on an aromatic love affair with wild garlic in the last few weeks. As well as my delicious wild garlic risotto, it has also featured in many salads and has livened up our mashed potato. But this whirlwind romance is set to end all too soon. While there are still lots to be seen in the local hedgerows, it won’t be long before their leaves wither and the flowers wilt.

I have, however, come across the perfect way to capture this garlicky essence of early spring – by making up a large jar of wild garlic and walnut pesto. Divine.

This recipe comes from River Cottage, who say it will keep it in the fridge for up to three weeks and can also be frozen. They also say it makes 5 x 200g jars but I only got one large jar out of it. It’s not a problem though as I think this will keep us going quite a while.

The pesto tastes fresh and green (if you know what I mean) and packs a strong tasty punch so you don’t need too much of it. For its first outing, I served it very simply stirred through a dish of spaghetti and only needed to use a couple of spoonfuls to get the full effect. I’m looking forward to trying it as a crostini or pizza topping next and, according to River Cottage, it’s also good stirred into soups and stews.

Spaghetti with wild garlic pesto

100g wild garlic leaves (carefully washed – I found a couple of slugs in mine!)
50g spring onions, chopped
50g walnut pieces
200ml good olive oil
70g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
spaghetti, allow 75-100g per person

Remove any thick stalks from the wild garlic and put in a food processor with the walnuts, spring onions, and 150 ml of olive oil.

Give it all a good blitz until everything is finely chopped and you have a beautifully thick, vibrantly green salsa.

Stir in the grated Parmesan, salt and sugar. Then pour into sterilised jam jars.

The advice here from River Cottage is to ensure you press the pesto down well with the back of a spoon to get rid of any air bubbles and leave room at the top of the jar for a layer of olive oil. Every time you use the pesto, mix in the oil before you take a spoonful, and replace with another layer of oil before replacing the lid and returning to the fridge.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Drain and stir in a spoonful or two of the wild garlic pesto to taste. Enjoy!

Wild garlic risotto

April 13, 2012May 17, 2012Posted in Recipes, VegetarianTagged chicken, family food, ransom, recipe, risotto, wild garlic17 Comments

I know spring has most definitely sprung when the scent of wild garlic starts wafting out from the hedgerows, which are completely overrun by them this time of year. As the weeks go on, the aroma can get really rather heady and pungent. Almost intoxicating on warmer days when the pretty white flowers are in full bloom.

Despite being in plentiful supply for at least a month of the year here in Somerset, I’ve never made much use of them other than adding a few chopped leaves in a salad here and there. But now that I’m a genuine foodie (well, I write a food blog don’t I?), I’ve decided it’s my duty to do more with them.

Also known as ransoms, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, stinking Jenny, wood garlic, bear leek, bear’s garlic and gypsy’s onions, the wild garlic is a wild relative of the chive. It has a delicate taste, a delicious combination of chive and garlic. Both the leaves and the flowers are edible.

When thinking of recipe ideas for the wild garlic, two immediately came to mind: risotto and pesto.

Last weekend we tried it in a risotto and it was an absolute triumph. Grown ups and children enjoyed it alike. I was impressed by the fact it tasted so special, almost extravagant, even though one of the main ingredients was completely free. Perfect family food on a budget. It felt good to pop down the lane with my oldest daughter, grab a few bunches and within half an hour or so turn it into a delicious feast.

I plan to try it in a pesto next week, so watch this space.

In the meantime, here’s my recipe for wild garlic risotto. I happened to have some leftover chicken from another meal in the fridge so I’ve added this but I think it would work equally well without.

Wild garlic risotto

Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
320g arborio risotto rice
1 litre hot chicken or vegetable stock
300g cooked chicken, torn or cut into bitesized pieces (optional)
2 large handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed and roughly shredded
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil and wild garlic flowers to serve

Gently cook the onion in the olive oil in a large frying pan for around 10 minutes until golden. Add the rice and fry for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the hot stock to the rice a ladleful at a time, allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding more. Keep going until you have added almost all the stock.

As the last ladleful goes in, throw in the wild garlic and (if you’re using it) cooked chicken, and stir together for two to three minutes.

Just before serving, stir in the Parmesan cheese and a grind of salt and pepper to taste. Plate up, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and decorate with a wild garlic flower or two.