It’s spring, therefore it’s wild garlic season, hooray! Ha, who am I kidding? I’d never even seen wild garlic before some arrived in my Riverford box this week and if you’ve never seen it either, it looks like this.
Wild garlic (also known as ‘bear’s garlic’, ‘devil’s garlic’, ‘gypsy’s onions’ and ‘stinking Jenny’) has a milder taste than its bulby counterpart and grows – as you’ve probably guessed – wild, in forests and, as you can see, it’s the leaves that are eaten, not the bulbs.
Wild garlic can be eaten raw in salads or wilted in butter and used like any other leafy green vegetable. Because I’d also received a cauliflower in my veg box, I decided to make a vegan wild garlic and cauliflower soup and very nice it was too. It turned out a beautiful pale green colour (admittedly, it looks slightly like Angel Delight but don’t let this put you off) and, thanks to my new Froothie Optimum G2.1 Platinum Series high powered blender (review coming soon), velvety smooth and creamy. If you haven’t got a high powered blender (I definitely recommend one though; I’ve never had such a smooth soup in my life), you could use a hand blender instead. This is a thick soup so if you like it slightly thinner, just add a bit more stock. Despite the thickness though, it’s a fresh, light soup; perfect for spring.
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head (about 400g) cauliflower, broken into florets
- 50g wild garlic, shredded
- 750ml vegan stock
- salt and pepper
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion for about 5 minutes, until soft
- Add the cauliflower, wild garlic, stock and season to taste
- Simmer for about 20 minutes until the cauliflower is tender
- Transfer to a blender and process until smooth
For more wild garlic recipes, check these out from my fellow food bloggers:
Wild Garlic Pesto Two Ways – by Tin & Thyme
Cheese and Wild Garlic Scones – by Thinly Spread
Sweet Potato, Wild Garlic and Spinach Soup – by Munchies & Munchkins
Wild Garlic Tattie Scones – by Foodie Quine
13 comments
I couldn’t quite believe it, after I’ve been picking it like mad recently, when some turned up in my Riverford box. I wasn’t best pleased, but put it to good use by making yet another batch of pesto – you can’t have too much of that in my opinion 😉
I’m definitely going to be giving wild pesto garlic a go – it looks fab!
BTW, your soup sounds awesome and I love the colour.
Thanks! I was very pleased when I blended it and it turned that lovely shade of green.
I so wish I knew somewhere local to pick wild garlic as I’ve not had it for years. I remember picking the leaves and rubbing it to make my hands smell when I was a child but never actually cooked with it! Soup looks fabulous!
What about over the marshes, if you’re still in Walthamstow? I need to find some near me, must be lots around.
I have never found garlic growing wild even though I keep looking for it.
I reckon there must be some where I live, I just need to find it!
Such a pretty color! I adore creamy cauliflower soup. I’m sure I would love this!
Excellent! I have cauli and wild garlic to hand, that’s lunch sorted!
What a gorgeous soup for Spring! The froothie really does give the most smooth and velvety texture to soups doesn’t it. We are blessed with loads of wild garlic in the woods where we take the dogs sometimes, I adore the scent of it!
Aw, you’re so lucky – now I’ve found out how gorgeous wild garlic is I want to go and find some but haven’t come across any yet!