It seems the very air I breath is permeated with wild garlic this week. Wild garlic or ramsons is similar to ramps, or wild leeks, both belonging to the allium family. Like ramps they grow anywhere moist and shady, like damp woods, stream banks etc. They do have a bulb which is edible, but it is small and finicky to harvest, with the bulb only being ready after about 3 seasons. The flowers are also edible, but much stronger than the leaves, making a few flowers a pretty and flavourful addition to robust summer salads. It is the leaves though, which are most sought after. Easy to harvest and prepare, and absolutely delicious.

I have a feeling that I am going slightly overboard with my wild garlic obsession, as my mom has just told me about an email she received from my daughter yesterday, where Dakota writes: ‘… I’m taking it easy on the garlic, but mom, ohhh!!!!, she can’t keep her hands off it!!!!!’ Even as I admit this I am writing about last night’s dinner and planning something for today, incorporating, you guessed it, wild garlic. I only hope the season is not over before I get through all the dishes I want to make.

Last night I made a real locavore’s salad of freshly dug new season potatoes, steamed Somerset asparagus and freshly foraged wild garlic. A little shaved parmesan and some hot lemon butter to finish it off and I officially pronounced it – Fabulous Dah-ling!

And for those of you who don’t know what wild garlic looks like, where to find it, or what bits to pick, here is a pictorial aid.

…slightly chive like, with white flower heads and bright green spearhead shaped leaves

…moist woods, and other damp areas such as stream banks

…tear off the leaves just above the stem (for regrowth) or snap off at the stem.

And if these clues don’t help, just follow the smell, it will guide you.

For the recipe for my Bashed new potato and wilted ramson salad with new season asparagus and lemon butter please click here or check out the Vanielje Kitchen Cook Book (vkcb) in the sidebar.

This is my entry for Andrea’s Grow Your Own event. I checked with her and wild garlic comes under the Hunter / gatherer clause apparently, so my entry is legit. It’s good to be back cooking with homegrown seasonal produce, so thank you summer and than you Andrea for a great event.

• Wash your freshly dug (or freshly purchased) new potatoes, making sure all the soil is scrubbed off, but trying to keep some of the delicate and tasty skin intact.
• Place in a pan of cold salted water and bring to the boil.
• Cook for about 15-20 minutes until just soft
• In the last five minutes of cooking time place your asparagus in a steamer, or a pan with a little water in the bottom.
• Put the lid on and bring the water to the boil.
• Steam until just tender but still with a bite.
• Drain you potatoes and return them to the hot pan.
  
• Put the pan back on a low heat and shuffle them around for a minute to dry out.
• Bash them up a bit with a fork or the back of a large spoon. This opens them up to allow them to soak up the flavours of the butter and wild garlic.
• Add whole or shredded ramson leaves to the potatoe pan with a knob of butter and a little olive oil, as well as some seasoning.
• Swish it around until the butter melts and the ramsons wilt.
• Spoon the potato and wild garlic mix onto a plate.
• Drain the asparagus then return to the pan with a little butter, some fresh ground black pepper and a liberal squeeze of lemon juice.
• Lay the asparagus on top of your bashed potatoes and pour the lemon butter over the whole dish, allowing it to soak into the potatoes.
• Add some slivers of sweet red bell peppers, for colour and a little freshness.
• Season and shave over some parmesan.
• Enjoy!
  

Wild garlic can be foraged for in the countryside in Spring and early summer.  Pick the youngest tender green leaves, avoiding any that are going yellow or are damaged or browned.

Wild garlic benefits from softening slightly in butter or olive oil then being added to all sorts of dishes.  The smell is quite pungently delicious and I always use this as a flavour pairing guide.  Take a deep breath  and anything that comes to mind will probably be delicious with a little wild garlic added: olives, tomatoes, garlic bread, pizza, pasta, the list goes on.

• For this pasta pick and wash a handful of wild garlic leaves
• chop some tomatoes into segments (or use cherry tomatoes), sprinkle them with a little olive oil, dot them with butter and a sprinkle of Maldon salt and fresh ground pepper.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and then add your pasta, stirring once around.
• Bring back to the boil, boil for two minutes then remove from the heat, cover with a lid and allow to steam for the cooking time stated on the packet.
• Meanwhile, shred your wild garlic leaves and soften in a little butter with some fresh ground black pepper and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
• Finely grate some parmiggiano reggiano and set aside.
• Drain the pasta and spoon a portion into a large bowl with high sides.  I use my stand mixer bowl.
• Add a spoonful of the melted butter with the wild garlic, and a handful of grated parmesan.
• Mix around with a large spoon and when the pasta is evenly coated spoon into a flat pasta bowl.
• Add your tomatoes and a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt, and serve

In winter our morning walk to school is not my favourite thing and I generally try and convince Dakota that a less eco-friendly door – to – door chauffeur approach is warranted. But in spring and summer we park in the neighboring village and walk across the fields. This morning it feels like we are wading knee deep in sunshine as the buttercups pay homage en-masse to the short but sweet British leg of Sol’s world tour.

The path then meanders, rickety as the old wooden fence it follows, through a small wood. Here the sunshine sneaks playful fingers through the leafy canopy while the trees dip their toes in a foaming sea of wild garlic.

The heady scent never fails to send a surging hunger message to both my stomach and my brain. Technicolor pictures dance wildly in front of my mind’s eye – of hot omelettes made with local free range eggs and somerset cheddar, grilled tomatoes and pasta with Parmesan butter, all liberally flavoured with the pungent wild garlic leaves currently doing their clamouring best to draw themselves to my attention. As if I could miss them.

We promise the children that we will stop and pick some on the way home, and for once I remember to bring my camera. In fact once I start snapping I can’t stop, everything is so beautiful. My neighbour remarks that in Italy everyone would be out foraging, but despite the fact that other children cannot resist the pungent lure, we are the only ones actually collecting young leaves for supper.

We leave behind any that are damaged or looking slightly yellow or past their best. There is so much that we can afford to pick and choose the sweetest looking young shoots. A handful each is enough. My neighbour is going to add hers to pizza toppings and I am going to make Farfalle pasta with Parmesan and Wild Garlic butter, and roasted tomatoes.

This is my entry to Ruth’s ongoing Presto Pasta night, which I always mean to enter but am usually too late with my Friday night dish. For the recipe click the link above or go to vkcb in the sidebar.

And don’t forget to come back tomorrow for more foraged wild garlic recipes. My mouth is already watering at the thought.