Wild Garlic Soup
Wild garlic is at its best a few weeks after the fronds appear, and before the flower buds open.This delicious soup can be frozen, so we can enjoy the delicate wild garlic flavours long after the crop has faded in late spring. It can be served with a drizzle of wild garlic pesto - see recipe below.
Ingredients
50g butter
100g onions, roughly chopped
200g potatoes, roughly chopped
300ml vegetable stock
1 bunch wild garlic
2 TBS double cream
Method
Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and potatoes, gently soften then season with salt and pepper. Cover pan with lid and cook for 10 minutes, ensuring onions do not burn.
Add stock bit by bit, and bring to boil. Then reduce heat and cook until potatoes and onion are tender.
Stir in wild garlic leaves and cook for 1 minute. Add double cream and stir.
Transfer to food processor and blend to a smooth consistency, or use a stick blender.
Check seasoning and add salt or pepper if needed.
Wild Garlic Pesto
Wild garlic makes a wonderful pesto - so here are two favourite recipes to try out! It also makes a lovely green sauce. All can be kept in sealed jars for several months, or frozen for at least a year (until next spring’s crop!)
PESTO - Italian style
Ingredients
150g wild garlic leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove
½ lemon - zest and juice
50g pine nuts (or pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, cashews, walnuts)
150ml olive oil or rapeseed oil
50g parmesan-style cheese (or 1 TBS nutritional yeast for vegans)
Salt and pepper to taste.
Method
This pesto is made by putting all ingredients apart from liquids in a liquidiser. Then gradually add oil, and finally stir in lemon juice. It can take a while to extract it all - it’s suggested you simply turn the liquidiser upside down over a large plate and let it slowly drain.
PESTO - simple options
Ingredients
2 handfuls wild garlic, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
50g hazelnuts (optional: toast before use)
50g parmesan, roughly cubed (alternatives could be other hard cheese e.g. Lincolnshire poacher)
Method
Crush together all ingredients in pestle and mortar or a food processor. Season with pepper and drizzle of olive oil and mix well.
Pumpkin Risotto
Ingredients - Serves 4
4 TBS olive oil
100g butter
1 sprig fresh rosemary
600g pumpkin (that’s the weight before any prep, including skin) - remove skin and seeds, chop into chunks approx 2 cm
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
300g rice (recommend arborio or carnaroli if poss, otherwise basmati)
150ml dry white wine (this can be kept frozen in advance, to avoid temptation from opening wine bottle, or buy small screwtop bottle)
1 litre hot stock
50g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Sage leaves, torn to serve
Method
Heat 2 TBS oil with 25g of the butter in saucepan. Add rosemary and pumpkin chunks, season, and put lid on. Cook for about 20 minutes until pumpkin softens and breaks down slightly. It is unlikely to stick, but take care just in case. Then take pan off heat and remove rosemary sprig.
In another pan, heat 25g of butter with remaining 2 TBS oil. Add onion and garlic, cook gently until soft but not coloured. Add rice, toast for a few minutes, stirring continuously, so it absorbs the oil and flavours.
Pour the white wine over rice, cook for a minute or so, then add stock a little at a time. Always allow the liquid to be absorbed before you add the next ladleful. When about half the stock has been used, add pumpkin and continue to add stock, stirring occasionally to ensure it does not stick to the pan. This is likely to be between 15 and 20 minutes. Take small quantity of rice out to check it is cooked through - stop the process as soon as it is.
Take the pan off the heat and add the remaining butter and parmesan, stirring well.
Serve with torn sage added as a garnish.
Pumpkin and Banana Cake
Pumpkin puree from the innards of your Hallowe’en candles can be prepared and frozen, then used in savoury dishes or desserts (our favourites include a savoury pumpkin and lentil tart, using lots of herbs).This recipe uses it for a variation on the popular Banana Cake recipe.
Ingredients - Serves 6
175g plain flour
2 TSP baking powder
½ TSP bicarbonate of soda
½ TSP salt
150g caster sugar
125g butter, softened
2 large eggs, beaten
3 small very ripe bananas, mashed
150g pumpkin puree (see recipe below to prepare in advance)
60g walnuts, roughly chopped + 10 walnut halves for topping
Method
Preheat oven to 190℃/170℃ fan/Gas 5. Prepare 900g loaf tin by greasing and lining.
Combine flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in mixing bowl.
In another bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Gradually add eggs, mixing well each time. Stir in banana flesh and pumpkin puree and then chopped walnuts.
Add flour, mixing well, then pour batter into lined loaf tin. Scatter walnut halves over, pressing in lightly. Bake for 70 to 90 minutes, or until coloured well on top and risen well - if it appears to be becoming too dark, cover tin with foil for last 10 minutes. The cake is ready when a skewer is inserted and comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin, then turn out onto wire rack. The cake will keep for 3 to 4 days, if kept in an airtight tin.
Preparing Pumpkin Puree
Suitable for freezing for up to 6 months. Can be handy to store in weighed portions, so it can be defrosted for use in separate recipes.
Scrub pumpkin thoroughly.
Cut pumpkins in 5-inch-square pieces, discarding stems. Remove seeds and fibrous strings (you can save seeds for roasting, and store in jars).
To bake in oven:
Preheat oven to 190℃.
Arrange pumpkin pieces in single layer, skin side up, in foil-lined shallow baking pan.
Roast, covered, 1 to 1½ hours or until tender.
Allow to cool, then scoop pulp from rind. Use a blender to process until very smooth.
To cook in microwave:
Microwave on high power for 7 minutes per pound, turning pieces every few minutes so portions cook evenly.
Allow to cool, then scoop pulp from rind. Use a blender to process until very smooth.
Quantities of puree per pumpkin weight
These estimates are very approximate, as the quantity of puree will depend on thickness of skin and quality of pumpkin flesh. Recommend weighing the actual puree before freezing, to ensure the weight that is needed for a recipe.
3 pound pumpkin = 175 grams puree
6 pound pumpkin = 350 grams puree
10 pound pumpkin = 580 grams puree
Rhubarb Meringue Pie
Ingregients - Serves 10
900g rhubarb, cut into 4cm pieces
100g caster sugar
2cm grated ginger
Grated zest 2 oranges
2 TBS cornflour
Meringue topping:
4 egg whites
125g caster sugar
1 TSP cornflour
Pastry (or be like your CAN contributor and buy frozen pastry):
275g plain flour (save small amount for dusting)
150g chilled butter, cut into small cubes
Pinch of salt
2 TBS caster sugar
1 egg yolk
Method
Preheat oven to 150℃/300℉/Gas 2.
If you are making pastry: Put flour, butter and salt into bowl and crumble with fingertips (cooled under cold tap) until resembles breadcrumbs (or alternatively, use food processor and whizz). Add caster sugar and mix again. Pour in egg and 2 TBS chilled water and, using hands or processor, combine until forms a ball. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll pastry out on floured surface and lay on a baking tin approx 23cm x 23cm. Cover (e.g. with parchment) and chill in fridge while rhubarb is prepared.
Place rhubarb, caster sugar, ginger and orange zest in ovenproof dish and bake for 20 minutes. Rhubarb should be tender but maintain its shape. Dust with cornflour and set aside.
Put egg whites in large bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Add caster sugar, one TBS at a time, continuing to whisk, until peaks are thick and glossy. Fold in cornflour and whisk until stiff.
Fill the pastry pie case with rhubarb, then top with meringue and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Cool before serving.
Brown Butter, Almond and Berry Traybake
A good way to use a glut of summer fruit. This recipe makes about 30 small squares or 15 larger ones.
Ingredients
350g butter
100g plain flour
275 ground almonds
275g caster sugar
75ml whole milk (or your preferred non-dairy alternative)
¼ TSP salt
2 TSP baking powder
3 medium eggs
1.5 TSP almond extract (optional)
200g summer berries (e.g. blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries) - can be frozen to save until you’re ready to make the recipe.
Glaze:
Juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon - about 110 ml
80g caster sugar
You will need a baking tin approx 23cm x 23 cm.
Method
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil then simmer until water has boiled off (large bubbles disappear, leaving foam of small bubbles). Turn to a low heat and stir for a few minutes. There’s a risk the butter will burn, so watch carefully and take off heat if necessary to avoid. When ready, the butter smells nutty and the base of the pan will have a layer coloured hazelnut brown.
Cool the butter in a large bowl for a few minutes. Then add all other cake ingredients except berries. Stir to form a batter, and pour into a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper. Scatter berries over the top (fine to do frozen or fresh). Bake at 190°C (180°C fan oven)/Gas 6 for 25 minutes. After 18 minutes, turn the cake. It is ready when it is a toasty brown on top and a skewer inserted comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze. Boil the juice and caster sugar for 5 to 6 minutes. The glaze will be thick enough if a small amount on a teaspoon remains thick like honey when you blow on it. If it is still liquid, boil for another minute, then test again.
When the cake has cooled for a few minutes, brush the glaze over the surface. Then leave to cool completely before slicing into squares.