WILD GARLIC PESTO

And so it continues, more Wild Garlic recipes. This,  like the Wild Garlic Butter, is a recipe which gives a longer life to your reward from woodland foraging and I have even been known to spread a little onto The Wild Garlic Scones from last weeks blog.

Just like regular basil pesto, everything goes in a processor and gets blitzed to within an inch of it's life.  The recipe is pretty much the same but you omit the garlic and replace the basil with wild garlic leaves.

60g Pine Nuts

100g Wild Garlic Leaves

60g Pecorino / Parmesan grated

250ml Olive Oil

Black Pepper

Start by toasting the pine nuts, pop them into a dry pan and heat till they start to brown.  Toasting them helps to bring out the flavour more.  Now add them to the processor along with the garlic leaves and pecorino.  Whizz everything together then while it's still running, slowly pour in the oil till you get the consistency you are happy with, you may use less of the oil than I have recommended, I like quite a loose blend.  Season with black pepper but not salt, the cheese is already quite salty. Store in a jam jar in the fridge or even freeze if you like.

WILD GARLIC SCONES

At this time of year you can't walk through woodland without coming across a heady carpet of wild garlic covering the shaded floor. I always think it a sign that spring is really upon us and I start to imaging the possibility of some sunshine round the corner, a little naively perhaps.

The pungent odour of wild garlic or Ramsons as it's also known hits you way before you spot the floppy lush leaves. It also grows along the edge of rivers and has a pretty white allium flower.

Its a relative of the chive and can be used as you would spinach, cooked or raw and the flavour can be quite subtle depending on how you use it.

I found mine in some woodland in North Wales, just be mindful if you go foraging and check you are allowed to pick it from it's location








We've had a week of eating wild garlic and I've started with savoury scones. You can use any hard cheese for this recipe, I thought it would be nice to use Yarg, a semi hard cheese from Cornwall that is traditionally wrapped in garlic or nettle leaves to mature but I couldn't find any so good old cheddar it was. You may have more luck than I.

They are so lovely straight from the oven, split and slathered in butter. I usually double this recipe up and make them quite large yielding about 9 but if you go smaller and make lots, they are great to freeze and warm from frozen.

400g Self Raising Flour
70g Butter
1 tsp Dried Mustard
130g Cheese grated
20g Wild Garlic Leaves chopped
Salt & Pepper
200g Milk

Preheat the oven to 190C fan and line a baking sheet with parchment.

Rub the butter into the flour till there are no lumps, add the mustard and seasoning and stir through the cheese.

Fold in to chopped garlic leaves till it's speckled evenly with green then pour your milk in gradually whilst string to combine. I find using a knife is best for this. Don't worry if you need to add a little more milk if it's a bit dry.

Once everything is in, bring it together with your hands and tip the dough onto a floured surface.  Knead it gently just to bring it together into a smooth ball.

Roll out the dough slightly, I find that to get a good thick scone, slightly under the depth of your cutter is a good guide for the thickness of your dough.  Cut out the scones then re-roll the remaining dough till it has all been used. Brush the tops with milk then bake for 20-25 minutes till cooked through and golden.