Wild garlic recipes

Friend of the Forest, Sarah, is a keen forager and has shared some of her favourite recipes using wild garlic she finds in the Forest! Why not give them a go and share the results with us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 

 

Sarah’s wild garlic and cheese scones

A circular, wooden serving board with homemade cheese and wild garlic scones on the left, wild garlic leaves in the middle, and cheese on the right
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As soon as you can smell the garlic in the Forest, the little leaves will be starting to come through. These scones are best with these tender, young leaves so you may just need to hunt a little to find them.

Ingredients

  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder 
  • Pinch of salt
  • Tiny pinch of ground black pepper
  • 55g of chilled butter cubed (dairy or vegan)
  • 120g apple wood cheddar grated (dairy or vegan)
  • A handful of garlic leaves, I like to slice mine into slithers as it produces glorious stripes of garlic throughout the scones. Keep some whole for decoration.
  • 90-100 ml milk (dairy or vegan)

Method

  1. Set the oven to 200C.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  3. Rub the butter cubes into the dry mixture with your fingertips, lifting up out of the bowl as you do so to create some lovely air. Go gently!
  4. Add the sliced garlic and grated cheese.
  5. Make a well in the centre and slowly add the milk. Mix until you get a soft but firm dough - you may not need all the milk to achieve this consistency. The key to good scones is to handle them as little as possible so, like when walking in the woods, go lightly!
  6. Place the dough on a surface and gently pat it down into a disk as thick as a finger. You can use a rolling pin to do this, but I prefer to create a rustic look by using my hands. 
  7. Separate the mixture using a cookie cutter or a glass dipped in flour.
  8. Place the shapes on a baking sheet.
  9. Top off each scone with one of the reserved garlic leaves and brush with a little milk. 
  10. Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown on the top and the bottoms look similar. 
  11. Serve warm with butter and a chunk of cheese.

Note: While I am baking, I also like to snack on chunks of cheese wrapped in the leaves. Lovely!

Sarah’s garlic butter

As the wild garlic leaves mature, I like to make garlic butter. It freezes well so I can use it as needed - they are easy to pop out to use on garlic bread or to cook with throughout the year. This recipe is very simple:

  1. Mix fresh, chopped garlic leaves with butter, a little olive oil, and salt - I like to use good quality salt like Maldon for the best flavour. 
  2. Wrap the mixture into a sausage shape in baking paper. 
  3. Pop it into the fridge to set. 
  4. Slice the set mixture into disks and freeze.