wild garlic quiche Archives

7 things to do with Wild Garlic

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Recipe: 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!

Over the weekend we met some friends for a picnic. As well as all the usual picnic fodder; sandwiches, crisps and dips, sausage rolls and such like, I brought along a slightly experimental cheesy wild garlic quiche, which went down an absolute storm.

We are lucky enough to live pretty close to a lush patch of wild garlic, so it’s easy for me to pick a handful or two when I’m out walking the dog. When you’re foraging it pays to know a little of what you’re doing. Wild garlic can look pretty similar to other plants, some of which may be poisonous, but you can generally tell what is and isn’t wild garlic by the smell, which is, well, garlicky. I also try not to pick any which might be growing in a prime peeing spot for dogs, and everything get a good wash when I get home, to be on the safe side.

This quiche is really easy to do, but if you’re in a hurry or you just don’t fancy making your own pastry, you can buy ready rolled stuff, or even pre-made pastry cases. I’ll hold my hands up and admit I used a pre-made pastry case for this recipe. Time was short and I had one in the pantry, there’s no shame in it, pastry can be tricky and doesn’t respect you if you’re in a rush. I have made quiche from scratch a thousand times before, so my recipe includes the ingredients and instructions for an entirely from scratch quiche.

Cheesy wild garlic quiche

Ingredients:

For the pastry –
225g plain flour
100g butter
2-3 tablespoons of cold water
Pinch of salt
– OR – (and no one will judge you) a sheet of ready rolled shortcrust pastry or a pre-made pastry case

For the filling –

3 eggs

75ml milk

150g strong cheddar, grated

1 large onion, finely sliced

Butter, for frying

30g chopped (and washed) wild garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

How to make your wild garlic quiche

Make the pastry by rubbing the butter, flour and a pinch of salt together until it’s like breadcrumbs, then gradually add the cold water until it forms a firm dough. Bring the dough together on a floured surface and roll out until it’s about the thickness of a pound coin. Or just use a sheet of ready-made pastry – no one will judge you!

Grease a 20cm quiche tin and carefully lay the pastry inside it, taking care not to tear it. Roughly trim off the excess pastry, this can be tidied up properly later, leave a little overhanging for shrinkage. Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper and top with baking beans or similar, you need to blind bake your pastry so you don’t get a soggy bottom. Pop into a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes at 180°c. After 15 minutes, carefully lift off the greaseproof paper and (incredibly hot) baking beans, please be careful. Pop your pastry case back into the oven for a further 10 minutes. Then remove and set aside to cool.

Once cooled carefully trim the edges with a sharp knife. Doing it this way will give you a nice clean edge.

To make your filling, gently sweat your sliced large onion (use two smaller ones if you’d like) in a frying pan with a knob of butter. You want the onions to be soft and translucent, not brown and crispy! This will take a little while, keep your eye on the onions and stir frequently. Once they’re soft, set them to one side to cool.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs and milk, then stir in the cooled onions, cheese, your chopped wild garlic and season generously with salt and pepper. Pour the mixture into the pastry case, then bake for 25-30 minutes or until it is just set and lightly golden on top.

I like to leave my quiche to cool a little before serving with a lovely green salad.