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: Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists

Each spring the woodland footpaths here abouts are fringed with wild garlic. I often pick a handful of leaves on my morning dog walks. Sometimes if I’ve got some time on my hands, I’ll pick enough to make a jar of wild garlic pesto, if I make enough of it, I’ll freeze some for later in the year. Wild garlic pesto is a potent thing, and should be consumed with caution, especially if you’re planning a hot date later that evening.

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 the pesto. If you have no wild garlic pesto at all, then they’re just as good with regular pesto.

Recipe: Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists

It’s pretty straightforward and if they’re keen to get involved, it’s a fun thing for kids to get stuck into making too.

Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists

You will need:
Wild garlic pesto, about 1-2 tablespoons
1 sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
50g grated cheddar cheese
1/2 a ball of mozzarella, torn into small pieces
Melted butter to brush over

To make your Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists:
Pre-heat your oven to 200c. Line a baking tray with baking parchment and assemble your ingredients.

Lay out your puff pastry sheet and cut it in half down the middle lengthways. Spread your wild garlic pesto over one of the halves and sprinkle the cheddar and mozzarella over the top.

Lay the other piece of pastry over on top of the pesto and cheese; press down gently and then using your fingers, pressing around the edges to seal them together. Cut into 8 strips widthways and when you lay them in the baking sheet, twist them. Make sure there’s space between them as they will spread out a little in the oven.

Recipe: Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists

Brush each one with melted butter and bake for 15 minutes or so in your pre-heated oven. They should be nicely browned and some of the cheese may have escaped and bubbled a bit. This only makes them more delicious.

Once baked, remove them from the oven and leave them to cool on the baking paper. The cheese will make them soft and prone to flopping and breaking unless you leave them to cool before moving them.

The finished twists make an excellent lunch with a pile of nice salad, or a great on the go snack for busy people. I usually bake two batches of these (double the quantity) because once they’re cool, they seem to disappear very quickly – always a good sign!

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try this wild garlic focaccia or these wild garlic and cheese scones.

Recipe: Cheese and Wild Garlic Pesto Twists

Recipe: Easy Wild Garlic Pesto

Each spring the woodland footpaths here abouts are fringed with wild garlic. I often pick a handful of leaves on my morning dog walks. Sometimes if I’ve got some time on my hands, I’ll pick enough to make a jar of wild garlic pesto. It’s a pretty simple thing to make and it stores well in the fridge. It’s also excellent to use in all kinds of dishes, not just your standard pasta with pesto.

Recipe: Easy Wild Garlic Pesto

I have all kinds of kitchen gadgets, but for pesto for some reason (I think possibly because it’s usually a small quantity) I use my nutribullet to whizz it all up. I like to add some fresh parsley to my pesto, I just really like parsley. You can leave it out if you prefer.

Easy Wild Garlic Pesto

Ingredients
200g wild garlic leaves, washed
50g fresh parsley, roughly chopped
50g parmesan, finely grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated
½ lemon, zested and juiced
50g pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
200ml good olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Recipe: Easy Wild Garlic Pesto

To make your wild garlic pesto:
Rinse and roughly chop your wild garlic leaves. Put all the wild garlic, parsley, parmesan, garlic, lemon zest and juice and the toasted nuts in your blender or nutribullet, add the oil a bit at a time and whizz it all up until it’s chopped up and combined. Don’t use all of the oil, you’ll need a tablespoon or two for the top of the pesto.

Taste the pesto and season to taste, feel free to add a bit more lemon juice if you feel it needs it. I felt like I added a lot more salt than I imagined I’d need to, so don’t feel you need to be too frugal with the salt shaker.

Pour the wild garlic pesto into a clean jar and top with the remaining oil. The pesto will need to be used fairly quickly, ideally within two weeks.

If you enjoyed this, you might also like to try these wild garlic pesto twists, wild garlic focaccia or these wild garlic and cheese scones.

Recipe: Easy Wild Garlic Pesto