7 things to do with Wild Garlic

I love cooking with wild garlic, and it’s a nice thing to do with my son, both collecting it and making delicious things with. Over the years we’ve made many tasty things, so I thought I’d share some of our favourite things to make with wild garlic. They’re in no particular order, some are quick and simple to make, some take a few hours, but all of them are very tasty indeed.

When you go foraging it’s important not to pick too much of anything. Take just what you need and save the rest for the wildlife or other foragers. If you’re foraging for wild garlic, you don’t need much anyway. It’s pretty pungent and a few leaves go quite a long way. I tend to try to pick the younger leaves in spots where I think (hope) dogs haven’t been. I always wash my wild garlic leaves before I use them anyway. You can find out more about wild garlic here.

7 things to do with Wild Garlic

Wild garlic and parmesan scones

These wild garlic and parmesan scones are so delicious. They’re everything you want from a savoury scone. I sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on the top which makes them extra delicious. This is such a great recipe, we can’t get enough of these simple scones, which are great for a quick lunch, or warmed with soup.

Wild garlic hummus

This simple hummus recipe is a real treat. Gently garlicky and full of good stuff. My son really loves this and gets me to make it a couple of times a week during wild garlic season.

Wild garlic macaroni cheese

This is a really simple recipe. It’s my standard go to macaroni cheese recipe, but with shredded wild garlic leaves scattered through it. It’s a really simple way of making something fairly basic into something fantastic.

Cheesy wild garlic quiche

This is a lovely quiche. Cheese and onion quiche is my favourite, but the addition of wild garlic really makes it something special. It’s a fine thing to serve to guests over for lunch, or just to keep to yourself if you’re a massive quiche fan, which I am!

Easy wild garlic pesto

Pesto is such a versatile thing to have in the fridge. This gentle wild garlic pesto is great stirred through pasta, or drizzled on pizza. Or in any way you’d normally use pesto.

Wild garlic pesto twists

If you’ve got a couple of tablespoons of wild garlic pesto going spare, then these cheese and wild garlic pesto twists are a simple but excellent way to use this lovely pesto.

Wild garlic and parmesan focaccia

This is the most delicious bread I’ve made. If you can get your hands on some lovely fresh wild garlic, it’s well worth making yourself. It’s like the best garlic bread you’ve ever had. I love this recipe!

Wild garlic is such a fantastic ingredient. It’s getting easier to come by now, many shops and deli’s are now stocking it in springtime. I hope this had given you some ideas about how to use any wild garlic you come across. Happy cooking!

Recipe: Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

Macaroni cheese American style pancakes. Yes, you read that right. We like pancakes of all kinds in this house, they’re a quick meal and great for jazzing up leftovers into something new and exciting.

With Shrove Tuesday just around the corner, and half a leftover macaroni cheese waiting to be used up, I decided to combine two of our favourite things into one delicious and rather hearty meal. Topped with bacon (or facon, if you’re veggie like me) and with some good tomatoes on the side, it’s a great family meal and really filling too!

Recipe: Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

Ingredients:
200g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 or 3 spring onions, finely chopped
200ml milk
3 eggs
25g butter, melted, plus extra for frying

For the topping-
Leftover macaroni cheese
Good Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt, pepper and dried chilli flakes

Recipe: Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

How to make your macaroni cheese American style pancakes:

In a large bowl or jug, whisk all of the pancake ingredients together with some seasoning until smooth. See how it looks, you might want to add more spring onion, or maybe some tinned sweetcorn, which works well, or some herbs like parsley if you have any. These savoury pancakes really lend themselves to being bulked out like this. We like a bit of spice, so we add dried chilli flakes, and you might like to too.

Put a small knob of butter in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and cook until the butter has melted. Once the pan is hot, pour around 2 tablespoons of the mixture into the pan. While the first side is cooking, put some of your leftover macaroni cheese over the top of the pancake and sprinkle over some of your grated cheese and press down all over with the back of a spoon. You’ll know when your pancake is ready to flip when you can start to see bubbles forming in the batter.

Once your pancake is ready to turn, use a spatula and carefully flip it over. Cook until the cheese has melted and is crispy. Once you’re happy, turn it out onto a plate and serve however you like. In our house, bacon and tomatoes are the favoured accompaniments, but it would be great with all kinds of things!

Note: Don’t cook your pancakes on too high a heat, you want them to cook all the way through without burning them.

Recipe: Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try –

Macaroni Cheese American Style Pancakes

Recipe: Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

Wild garlic season is once again upon us, and with a lane near us generously fringed with these fragrant leaves, it would be rude to walk by them and not grab an handful or two. I’ve made lots of lovely things with the annual crop of wild garlic, and each year I like to try something new. This time I turned some odds and sods of cheese, some pasta and a few handfuls of wild garlic into this delicious wild garlic macaroni cheese.

I can’t tell you how good my house smells now. The wild garlic baked in the over in the macaroni cheese has made everything smell extra delicious. This is a really simple recipe, it’s my standard go to macaroni cheese recipe, but with shredded wild garlic leaves scattered through it. It’s a really simple way of making something fairly basic into something fantastic.

Recipe: Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients: 
250g dried macaroni pasta
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
Approx one pint of milk, maybe more, maybe less
200g mature cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
20g (approx) wild garlic, roughly chopped
30g breadcrumbs

Recipe: Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

How to make this Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese:
To make this wild garlic macaroni cheese; melt the butter in a saucepan, once melted, tip in the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Mix until it’s a paste and then cook the flour out for a minute. Add a splash of milk and stir until it turns into a paste again. Keep adding milk in splashes and mixing until it starts to turn into a silky sauce. The amount of milk will vary, but I’d say you need at least a pint of milk.

Leave your sauce to bubble gently on the hob while you put 250g of pasta to another saucepan of boiling water. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

While your pasta cooks, grate your cheese and setting aside 50g of the cheese to top your bake with, add all of the rest of the cheese to your sauce. I usually use a good strong cheddar cheese, sometimes I’ll add some parmesan if I have it. It’s up to you. Stir, stir, stir your sauce and season with salt and pepper. I also like to add ground chilli flakes for a bit of a gentle kick, but you can leave that out if you prefer.

Taste the sauce to check the seasoning; if it’s not cheesy enough for you, now is a good time to add more cheese. Now would also be a good time to pre-heat your oven to 220°.

Once your cheese sauce and pasta have cooked, drain your pasta and stir it into the cheese sauce, add your shredded wild garlic and make sure it’s well mixed together. Pour the wild garlic macaroni cheese into a baking dish. Level the top gently with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and the fresh breadcrumbs over the top; pop it into the oven for 25 minutes, or until it’s brown and bubbly on top. Take it out of the oven and put to one side for five minutes. Serve with a big salad and crusty bread. It is garlicky perfection.

Recipe: Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

If you liked this, you might also like to try these other wild garlic recipes –

Recipe: Wild Garlic Macaroni Cheese

Recipe: Yorkshire Creamery Macaroni Cheese

At the end of September I went to North Yorkshire for a foodie weekend away. While we were there, I wanted to visit the Wensleydale Creamery and have a look around. After enjoying the Cheese Experience we had worked up a good appetite and fancied lunch in Calvert’s Restaurant. Naturally we ordered fairly greedily, with an epic cheese board taking centre stage. Being hungry types, we also shared a gorgeous portion of Yorkshire Creamery macaroni cheese.

Recipe: Yorkshire Macaroni Cheese

The macaroni cheese was made with mature Yorkshire Cheddar and extra mature Yorkshire Red. They were the most delicious combination, so as we left, I picked up a wedge of each from the shop to make for myself once I got home. Here’s my recipe, and it’s not a bad recreation of the original.

This recipe feeds two heartily, and three or four as a side.

Recipe: Yorkshire Macaroni Cheese

Yorkshire Creamery Macaroni Cheese

Ingredients:
250g dried macaroni pasta
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
Approx one pint of milk, maybe more, maybe less
100g mature Yorkshire cheddar cheese, grated
100g extra mature Yorkshire red, grated
Salt and pepper
30g breadcrumbs

How to make this Yorkshire Creamery Macaroni Cheese:
To make this Yorkshire Creamery macaroni cheese; melt the butter in a saucepan, once melted, tip in the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Mix until it’s a paste and then cook the flour out for a minute. Add a splash of milk and stir until it turns into a paste again. Keep adding milk in splashes and mixing until it starts to turn into a silky sauce. The amount of milk will vary, but I’d say you need at least a pint of milk.

Leave your sauce to bubble gently on the hob while you put 250g of pasta to another saucepan of boiling water. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

While your pasta cooks, grate your cheese and setting aside 70g of the Yorkshire red to top your bake with, add all of the rest of the cheese to your sauce. Stir, stir, stir your sauce and season with salt and pepper. I also like to add ground chilli flakes for a bit of a gentle kick, but you can leave that out if you prefer. Taste the sauce to check the seasoning; if it’s not cheesy enough for you, now is a good time to add more cheese. Now would also be a good time to pre-heat your oven to 220°.

Recipe: Yorkshire Macaroni Cheese

Once your pasta is cooked, drain it really well and tip it into your cheese sauce; stir that through and pour into a baking dish. Level the top gently with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle over the remaining Yorkshire Creamery red cheese and the fresh breadcrumbs; pop it into the oven for 25 minutes, or until it’s brown and bubbly on top. Take it out of the oven and put to one side for five minutes. Serve with a big salad and crusty bread.

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might also like to try this ham hock macaroni cheese recipe.

Recipe: Yorkshire Creamery Macaroni Cheese

Recipe: Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese

Now that the leaves have started falling from the trees, my slow cooker (or crockpot if you’re reading this in America) is really earning its keep. I love a slow cooker recipe, being able to throw something together in the morning and come home to something hearty and warming in the evening is an autumn/winter life saver! This week I made a Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese using a ham hock I’d bought for just £3.50. I cooked it in the slow cooker, stirred it through some macaroni cheese, baked it in the oven and made my family very happy indeed.

Recipe: Recipe: Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese

A ham hock comes into its own when you cook it for hours. You know its done when it falls off the bone. It’s insanely cheap and it often used to make ham and pea soup with. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just needs long, slow cooking. I’m a bit obsessed with ham hocks these days, they seem like such good value and the boys seem to really like anything I make with them, like this Sticky Rosé Braised Ham Hock.

This Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese is the kind of thing you’d find being sold for £15 a portion in a hipster dive bar in a fashionably shabby part of town. It’s the kind of made ahead meal you could make for friends and family for a weekend feast. It’s hearty, it’s warming and it’s delicious. My family adored me when I put this in front of them.

Recipe: Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese

Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese

This recipe makes enough for four people.

Ingredients:
Coke or diet coke, about a litre
Ham hock, uncooked
200g dried macaroni pasta
50g unsalted butter
50g plain flour
Approx one pint of milk, maybe more, maybe less
100g mature cheddar cheese
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and pepper
30g breadcrumbs

How to make Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese:
Put your ham hock in your slow cooker and pour over your coke or diet coke until it’s just about covered. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for at least 5 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone.

Once your ham hock is cooked, take the meat and cap of fat off it and shred the meat with two forks. Discard the bones and fat, or give them to your grateful dog.

You will have probably enough meat to eke out two portions of this dish, but if you’re feeling generous like I was, then use all the meat in the one dish. If you want to be less generous (and the next time I make this, I’m going to be less generous), set aside half of the ham hock, dribble over a little bit of the cooking juices and freeze, ready to be defrosted next time you want to make this.

To make the macaroni cheese, melt the butter in a saucepan, once melted, tip in the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Mix until it’s a paste and then cook the flour out for a minute. Add a splash of milk and stir until it turns into a paste again. Keep adding milk in splashes and mixing until it starts to turn into a silky sauce. The amount of milk will vary, but I’d say you need at least a pint of milk.

Leave your sauce to bubble gently on the hob while you add 200g of pasta to another saucepan of boiling water. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

While your pasta cooks, grate your cheese and add it to your sauce. Set aside 20g of the Parmesan to top your bake with. Stir, stir, stir your sauce and season with salt and pepper. I also like to add ground chilli flakes for a bit of a gentle kick, but you can leave that out if you prefer. Taste the sauce to check the seasoning; if it’s not cheesy enough for you, now is a good time to add more cheese. Now would be a good time to pre-heat your oven to 220°.

Once your pasta is cooked, drain it really well and tip it into your cheese sauce; stir that through and add your shredded chunks of ham hock. Stir that through and pour into a baking dish. Level the top with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and the remaining Parmesan cheese; pop it into the oven for 25 minutes, or until it’s brown and bubbly on top. Take it out of the oven and put to one side for five minutes. Serve with a big salad and crusty bread.

Recipe: Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese

If you want to feed your friends and family something that’s like a big plate of hugs, this ham hock macaroni cheese is the dish for you. It’s a delicious, economical, hearty hug of a meal.

Recipe: Ham Hock Macaroni Cheese