Today M and me decided to go and hunt some wild garlic. So off we went to Neckarsteinach, a small village next to the River Neckar and started with a cup of coffee and a ratatouille galette in a small café overlooking the river and its castles. Thus refreshed we took a stroll through the Nibelung Park:
This is supposed to be Hagen of Tronje, King Gunther's vassal, but honestly I think in real life he was much much more attractive:
Despite various distractions we made it to a spot with wild garlic. It was not ideal since the gathered bear garlic didn't have this intense smell it should have but was only slightly garlicky. But it was still good enough to make a nice soup for this evening (this recipe from Mestolo). I used wild garlic for several pestos (yummie with pine nuts but also with cedar nuts) and a delicious pasta bake (the lower right corner is totally vegan with breadcrumbs and olive oil while the rest is made with cheese on top for my ovo-lacto family members).
In case you want to know, just throw together pasta, cauliflower, carrots, and runner beans. Prepare a white roux with dairy-free milk, blend a big bunch of wild garlic with half a cup of your sauce and mix everything together. Add breadcrumbs on top and sprinkle with some olive oil. Now bake it a bit less long than I did and you have a wonderful garlicky pasta bake :)
The wild garlic season is just kicking off in Scotland and i am hoping to go foraging this weekend. Last year I had a wonderful time concocting wild garlic recipes.
ReplyDeletehttp://allotment2kitchen.blogspot.com/search/label/wild%20food%20-%20wild%20garlic
@ mangocheeks:
ReplyDeleteWow, what a nice collection of wild garlic ideas :) Thanks! I will definitely try the potatoe cakes and the soup, looks delicious on your blog.
I had a wild garlic risotto with white asparagus yesterday (well, you can't stop foraging quite so easily, can you? And as you said it keeps well in the fridge). So, happy foraging (is your homegrown wild garlic not growing fast enough for the season?)