If you’ve been walking or traveling through the Vale in April you’ll have no doubt seen the abundance of Wild Garlic. It really has been a bumper year so far. And, as there’s so much, and it’s really lovely to include in recipes, we asked our good friend Katie Davies if she’d allow us to share her excellent Wild Garlic Soup recipe with readers.
Be careful
Before you run off tearing clumps out of the hedgerows, a few tips. Don’t forage near busy roads – there’s too much lead and other nasties settling on the plants – aim for quiet country lanes to do your foraging , and always make sure you’re picking the right plant. if in doubt, don’t, until you’re absolutely sure.
Be sustainable
Best way to collect is to take a good sharp scissors and collect a few leaves from each plant. That way, you won’t distress it and it’ll come back next year. Before cooking, always remember to wash the leaves thoroughly.
Ingredients
100g wild garlic
100g spinach
2 small onions
1 large leek
2 garlic cloves
200g potatoes
25g butter
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
Fresh thyme leaves
350ml chicken stock
100ml double cream
Plus, ideally…
25g Caws Cenarth Per Las cheese (Welsh blue cheese)
Method
Wash the wild garlic thoroughly
Slice the onions and leek, peel and chop the potatoes and finely chop the garlic cloves
Melt the butter and oil in a saucepan, on a medium heat. Add the onions, leek, potatoes, garlic cloves and lots of thyme leaves
Cook gently for 5-10 minutes, until the potatoes starts to become soft, add the chicken stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft
Add the wild garlic and spinach and use a stick blender to blitz until very smooth, then strain through a sieve
Add the soup back into the saucepan and heat gently, add cream and seasoning to taste, then add the Perl Las a little at a time, tasting and reserve a little to sprinkle over the top, to serve.
Top Tip
If you can’t find wild garlic or it is out of season, watercress makes a nice alternative.
Katie Davies
Katie Davies was a Quarter Finalist on Mary Berry’s cooking show, Britain’s Best Home Cook, which was on BBC One in May and June last year. She was the only Welsh contestant and promoted Wales, Welsh cooking and Welsh produce throughout her time on the show.
Katie said, “The response to the show has been fantastic, and I have had nothing but positive feedback from viewers, with lots of requests for my recipes, both the ones I made on the show and those I cook at home for my family.
You can find out more about Katie’s cooking and recipes at www.katiehomecook.com
Leave A Reply