Seven ways with wild garlic

So I've had a few weeks of foraging for wild garlic now. I reckon it should be around for a week or so more at least (and longer up north).

This plant really is one of my favourite things to forage - easy to find, simple to prepare and delicious in a whole range of recipes. Just be careful who you breathe on afterwards!

Here's my hit parade of the best wild garlic recipes. As you'll be able to tell from the below, it loves mushrooms, cheese (especially creamy ones) and eggs. And although I haven't listed any recipes, I also like it with peas - their gentle sweetness seems to balance out the aggressiveness of the garlic.

1. Pizza with wild garlic, mushrooms and ricotta

Take your preferred variety of pizza base - home-made is best. Top with tomato sauce (again, this is best home-made and can easily be made from a tin of chopped tomatoes, reduced down well with black pepper and a good pinch of dried oregano). Strew the pizza generously with ricotta cheese, chopped wilted garlic leaves and slices of lightly cooked (baked or fried) field mushroom. Cook in a hot oven until the base is cooked and the ricotta is softened and oozing.

2. Wild garlic and cheese omelette

Make an omelette. While the omelette is cooking, wilt about four garlic leaves, roughly chopped, in the microwave. When the omelette is nearly cooked but still runny in the middle, add the garlic leaves and some grated or thinly sliced mature Cheddar. Cook for a moment longer so that the cheese starts melting, then fold over and serve. 

3. Wild garlic and feta pastries
Cook your wild garlic - either by wilting it down in a saucepan or in the microwave. Chop the wilted leaves well, then add a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese, along with some grated nutmeg and black pepper. Use this as a filling for filo pastry (you could make one large strudel shape, or small 'cigars', or use it to line a dish like a pie.) Bake in a hot oven until the pastry is browned and the filling hot all the way through.

3. Risotto of wild garlic and mushrooms

Make a simple risotto with a chopped onion and risotto rice as the base. Add stock, stirring, until the rice is nearly cooked. Meanwhile, fry some interesting mushrooms (such as portobello, oyster, or porcini) in butter. You can use dried porcini mushrooms to beef up the flavour too if you want. Add a couple of handfuls of chopped garlic leaves to the risotto, and continue to cook until all the garlic is well wilted. Stir in the mushrooms and your choice of cheese - I would suggest either Parmesan or your favourite goat's cheese.

5. Wild garlic pesto

Put raw garlic leaves, pine nuts, olive oil, Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, and seasoning into a small blender. Blend until you have a pesto consistency. Taste and adjust the ingredients as you see fit. Serve on pesto or on bruschetta, perhaps with some mushrooms or roasted vine tomatoes. Warning: this is a very garlicky pesto. If you cook the leaves first, the colour and texture is not quite as good, but you will have a milder flavour.

6. Lentil and wild garlic curry

Chop an onion and fry gently for a few minutes, then add some cumin, turmeric, chilli and chopped or finely grated ginger root. Add red lentils with enough water to cover them and cook for about 20 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Add chopped garlic leaves and simmer for another five minutes. Serve with rice or Indian bread.

7. Potato salad garnished with garlic flowers

This is a really simple one, but really pretty, and lovely on a picnic. Make a potato salad - with a creamy-type dressing rather than a vinaigrette (I like to use a mixture of yogurt and mayonnaise). Instead of using chives or suchlike, chop about half a wild garlic leaf finely and stir it in. Just before servings, separate a couple of wild garlic flower heads into individual flowers, and scatter them over the top.