01/04/2022 by rosa 0 Comments
Wild Garlic Season Begins
It's Wild Garlic Season! We share some tips on foraging sustainably and a simple recipe to whizz up at home.
We are very lucky in the Sunny South East to be home to a wealth of wild garlic which pops up in abundance amongst local woods and hedgerows. March to June is ideal for picking wild garlic as it is at it's most flavoursome then and you can add it to salads in place of chives, mix it with butter for garlic bread or make a delicious pesto to use on pasta dishes and pizzas!
A few top tips though - never pick wild garlic (or any wild food) from areas that get a lot of dog traffic or motor traffic as plants are very susceptible to pollutants and dogs, well they do like to leave their mark! It is best to source from an area out of reach of dogs and on quiet back roads for example never taking more than you intend to use of course. A rule of thumb when foraging is to take less than a third but bear in mind that others may have done so before you so make sure to leave plenty on the plant for regeneration!
Rule of Thirds: Pick a third, leave a third for the bees, birds, and beasties, and a third for the plant to propagate.
Finally, always clean your wild garlic before consuming too!
Here's a simple recipe for Garlic Pesto that you can whizz up at home and delight your friends
Ingredients:
150g wild garlic leaves
50g parmesan cheese finely grated
1 garlic clove finely chopped
Zest of half a lemon
A few drops of lemon juice
50g of toasted pine nuts
150ml rapeseed oil
Method:
Rinse and roughly chop the wild garlic leaves
Whizz the wild garlic leaves, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and pine nuts in a food processor until they make a paste.
Slowly add most of the oil and season as you go. Add a few drops of lemon juice to taste.
Once you're happy with the taste store in a clean jar topped with remaining oil. This can be refrigerated for up to two weeks
Enjoy!
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