Eat Wild Garlic

Wild garlic is great raw for garnishing salads, but it can also be used as an herb to flavor soups, meats, and sauces. Garlic leaves only need to be rinsed off in lukewarm water and then they can be used to replace spring onions, chives, and garlic bulbs in any recipe. Quickly wilt the leaves at the end of the cooking process or blend them into your sauce to instill your food with a healthy garlic flavor.

Ingredients

Garlic Soup

Serving size: 4

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 diced potatoes
• 1 chopped onion
• 4 cups (1 liter) chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 handfuls of garlic leaves
• ½ cup (110 mL) heavy or double cream
• Salt and pepper

Garlic Pesto

Serving size: 4

• 3.5 oz (100 g) chopped garlic leaves
• 4/10 cup (50 g) pine nuts or walnuts
• 4/10 cup (50 g) grated parmesan
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Lemon juice
• Salt and pepper

Garlic Spring Chicken

Serving size: 6

• 6 pieces of chicken
• 6 slices of lemon
• 2” (5 cm) ginger
• 2 onions
• 1 cup (240 mL) garlic leaves
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Black pepper
• 25 oz (150 mL) of white or pink wine

Steps

Making Wild Garlic Soup

1. Coat the potatoes and onion in butter. Place two tablespoons (25 g) of butter in a large pan over medium heat. When the butter foams, add two diced potatoes and one onion chopped into small pieces. Mix in the ingredients to cover them with butter, then season them as you like with salt and pepper.
2. Cook the potatoes and onion until they are soft. Turn down the heat and cover the pan. Cook the potatoes and onion for about ten minutes or until they are soft, stirring regularly.
3. Add and boil the stock. Add about four cups (1 liter) of chicken or vegetable stock. Bring the stock to a rolling boil by keeping the pan covered and boiling it until the bubbles don’t disappear when you stir.
4. Cook the garlic leaves in the stock. Chop up two handfuls of garlic leaves and add them to the stock. Cook the leaves for two minutes or until they appear wilted. Watch carefully to ensure they don’t lose color.
5. Blend the soup. Pour the hot soup into a blender. Use the blitz setting to make the soup appear smooth and without potato and onion chunks. Afterwards, pour the soup into a serving bowl.
   • You can also use an immersion blender.
6. Stir in the cream. Measure out about ½ cup (110 mL) of heavy cream or double cream. Add the cream slowly, stirring all the while so it doesn’t curdle. Taste the soup when finished and add seasoning as needed.
   • Soup will usually last up to four days when stored in the refrigerator and up to three months when stored in the freezer.

Blending Garlic Pesto

1. Preheat the oven. Set the oven to 350 F (180 C). This only has to be done if you wish to toast your nuts. The nuts can also be used raw or left out entirely.
2. Toast the pine nuts. Place about 4/10 cup (50 g) of pine nuts in an oven dish or on a baking tray. Let the nuts sit inside the oven for about five minutes. Remember to check, since the nuts can quickly burn. Take them out when finished.
   • Walnuts or other nuts can be used instead.
3. Blend the ingredients in a food processor. Combine about 3.5 oz (100 g) of chopped garlic leaves, 4/10 cup (50 g) of parmesan cheese, a tablespoon or two of olive oil, and the nuts inside a blender. Use the pulse or blitz setting to make the pesto as smooth as you’d like.
   • Walnut oil or canola oil can also be substituted for the olive oil.
4. Make the mixture thinner with more oil. Pouring more oil into the mixture will change the pesto’s consistency. Thinner pesto can be made by adding more oil and blending the mixture further. Slowly add the oil and mix the ingredients until you get the consistency you desire.
5. Season the pesto. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to the pesto. Include some lemon zest if you have any on hand. Also try adding half a teaspoon of salt and black pepper to give the sauce more flavor.
   • Use the pesto on pasta or other food as a sauce.
   • The pesto will last up to a week in the refrigerator and up to four months in the freezer.

Cooking Garlic Spring Chicken

1. Preheat the oven. Set the oven to 190 F (88 C). Take a break for a few minutes until the oven gets hot.
2. Lay the chicken pieces on a baking tray. You may use any six chicken pieces that you have, including breasts, thighs, and drumsticks. If you have a whole chicken, separate it into six pieces. Lay these on a baking tray.
3. Season the chicken with lemon. Cut a lemon into six slices. Squeeze a lemon slice over each piece of chicken. Afterwards, place each slice under a chicken piece to add more flavoring.
4. Sprinkle the ginger on the chicken. You can peel the ginger first by using a spoon or paring knife to get under the skin. Hold the ginger still and scrape off the skin. Dice about two inches (5 cm) of fresh ginger. Add the tiny ginger pieces over and beside the chicken.
5. Place the onion wedges next to the chicken. Obtain two onions. Chop each one into at least three wedges. Set the onion wedges next to the chicken.
6. Tear apart the garlic leaves. Gather a cup (240 mL) of garlic leaves. Rip them apart by hand and scatter them over and around the chicken.
7. Season the chicken. Drizzle three tablespoons of olive oil over all the chicken pieces. Follow this by sprinkling a teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of sea salt, and as much black pepper as you’d like.
8. Pour white wine into the tray. Measure out 25 oz (150 mL) of white or pink wine. Add it to the tray and spread it out over the bottom of the tray under the chicken and other ingredients.
9. Bake the chicken for ten minutes. Allow the chicken to begin to cook for about ten minutes. Once the time is up, remove the chicken from the oven.
10. Baste the chicken. Spread the wine at the bottom of the pan over the chicken with a brush, baster, or spoon. Return the chicken to the oven.
11. Bake the chicken for another 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 160 F (71 C). Let the chicken cook. After 15 minutes, the skin should look brown on the ends. If the skin has not browned, you can turn the heat back up to 190 F (88 C) and cook for another three or five minutes. Serve the ingredients together on plates.
    • Cooked chicken will last in the refrigerator up to four days.

Harvesting and Using Wild Garlic

1. Harvest wild garlic in spring. Wild garlic can be found throughout all of spring. However, in early spring, the flowers have not yet bloomed. Once the flowers bloom in the middle of spring, they start losing flavor.
2. Wash the leaves in water before use. Cut off any parts of the plant you wish to use, including the flowers and seeds. The bulbs are usually too small to use and taking them means the plant won’t grow back. Run the cuttings under cold water, then pat them dry with a cloth.
3. Use wild garlic bulbs as a substitute for store-bought garlic. The bulbs serve the same function as standard garlic bulbs. Peel them and chop them up to use as seasoning in any dish that calls for garlic flavoring.
4. Use the flowers as seasoning. The flowers and their seed pods can be eaten raw. Add them to savory dishes, such as salads, where they’ll be an edible garnish. They will give you the same flavor as the garlic plant’s leaves.

Tips

• Wild garlic is an antibiotic high in vitamins A and C. It is useful for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.

Things You’ll Need

Garlic Soup

• Large saucepan
• Blender

Garlic Pesto

• Blender
• Oven
• Baking sheet

Garlic Spring Chicken

• Medium lined baking tray
• Oven
• Baster

Sources and Citations

See also

• Easily Clean a Garlic Press
• Buy, Store and Cook With Garlic
• Roast Garlic
• Make Garlic Cream Sauce
• Consume Garlic for Health
• Store Fresh Garlic
• Make Garlic Oil
• Peel a Garlic Clove
• Make Garlic Butter
• Make Ginger Garlic Paste

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