It’s wild garlic or Ransoms season. You will definitely smell it before you see it. It has a strong garlic smell which is the best indicator for identification.
Wild garlic is another really nutritious wild edible. It contains vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and copper. Studies have shown that it may help reduce blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease. All of the garlic family do this but Wild garlic is particularly good for this.
With wild garlic you just use the leaves in a recipe and leave the bulbs to grow again. It is actually illegal to uproot wild plants without the land owners permission.
Wild garlic can be used for many recipes. We have used wild garlic in a potato salad, with salt to make a seasoning, mixed into hummus, shied into cream cheese, added to scrambled egg and as a pesto with pasta like in this recipe that I will tell you about now.
You will need
50g of pine nuts (lightly toasted) or other nuts
50g of Parmesan or other cheese
150ml oil
150g wild garlic leaves.
A squeeze of lemon juice.
Method
First rinse and pat dry your wild garlic leaves then chop them roughly.
Next add all your ingredients to your blender and blend until it is in a paste.
Add your pesto to a jar with a lid. It should keep for a week in the fridge.
We added ours to a nettle pasta we made which was delicious. Check out my blog for the nettle pasta recipe.
Forgotten Forest 