Make wild garlic butter
Wild garlic is starting to make an appearance along grassy banks and in woodlands so now is the perfect time to go foraging for some of these aromatic and flavourful leaves!
Wild garlic is only available March-June so recipes to preserve wild garlic are really worth it. This wild garlic butter can be frozen and only needs three ingredients: butter, wild garlic and salt.
What you will need:
50g wild garlic
250g butter (softened)
Salt to taste
Knife
Mixing bowl and spoon/fork
Jar or container to store your butter
Baking paper
How to forage for wild garlic:
If you’re a beginner forager, wild garlic is the perfect way to start as it’s really easy to identify - you’ll often smell the plant before you even see it! The best time to pick wild garlic is when the leaves are new but before it flowers. You can still pick it afterwards but the leaves aren’t as tender.
Wild garlic loves damp, semi-shaded places and can be found in woodlands and grass verges, particularly if there is a river or stream nearby. Look for clusters of green leaves, pointed in shape with smooth edges which appear in early spring. If it’s flowering, you’ll see pretty, white-petalled flower heads sitting on a single stem shooting up between the leaves. The best way to check that you've picked wild garlic is to crush the leaves between your fingers - wild garlic will always smell garlicky. However, if you’re in any doubt about which plant you’ve found, do not eat it!
You can pick and eat both the leaves and flowers from plants you find growing in the wild but make sure to leave the bulb underground and intact for next year. (Wild plants in the UK are protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act, which makes it illegal to remove or dig up a plant without the permission of the landowner.)
It is important to remember the ‘rule of thirds’ rule when you harvest, which means taking no more than 1/3 of any plant that is available; that could be 1/3 of the plants in the area you are picking from, or 1/3 of the leaves of an individual plant. This makes sure that there is enough left for the coming season and for any wildlife that depend on it.
What you need to do:
Go foraging! Wild garlic leaves can bruise quite easily so take a nice spacious bag or basket with you to gather them in. I put the inside of a salad spinner in a bag to prevent the leaves from getting crushed.
Once you have collected your wild garlic leaves, wash and dry them and then very finely chop.
Place the butter and wild garlic in a large bowl and beat until well combined and creamy. Add salt to taste and mix again.
You can transfer the wild garlic butter into a jar or container if you plan on eating it within a week or so but it also freezes well. To freeze it, place the wild garlic butter on a sheet of baking paper and then shape into a log and wrap the paper tightly around the butter, twisting the ends so it looks like a cracker. It should last up to 6 months and you can easily chop off a disc of the wild garlic butter when you want some and pop the rest back in the freezer rather than defrosting all of it.
Wild garlic butter is so versatile. You can simply slather it onto bread or toss a little bit with your steamed or boiled veggies, stir it through hot pasta, fry mushrooms with it, make your own garlic bread…you can put it on anything really!
You can also add some lemon, chilli flakes or paprika to your butter if you like!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two boys