The Extra Helping

Two ways with wild garlic and pasta, some seasonal foraging tips and Spring wines

Coming up today. Two ways with wild garlic with pasta. Wild garlic, ricotta and leek lasagne. A green take on a lasagne bianco. Fresh egg pasta, creamy ricotta and lemon zest and wild garlic cavatelli with buttered hazelnuts and Graceburn cheese. These should give you inspiration for a mid week supper and a weekend centre piece using wild garlic.

Wild garlic is all over now, if you think because you live in a city you can’t get it you are wrong. Look for it in your local park where there is a stream with a wooded area. If you are local to Isca I would suggest trying around Chorlton Water Park, on the banks of the Mersey around Heaton Mersey and Reddish vale has it in abundance. There is plenty to go around! It’s best to pick and preserve it now before it flowers as this is when it has the best flavour. Ferment it, pickle it, make a butter from it, make it into oil or this delicious pasta sauce below. The last three freeze well so you can get your wild garlic hit all year around if you are a forward planner.

First up using the same semolina dough that we worked with for Valentine’s Day we are going to master another pasta shape. Cavatelli and its little grooves designed for sauce to cling to.

Wild garlic cavatelli with buttered hazelnuts and Graceburn cheese.

1 quantity of semolina pasta dough

200g wild garlic leaves, thoroughly washed

100g kale leaves, thoroughly washed

100ml olive oil

150g butter

100g hazelnuts, roasted

100g Graceburn cheese or similar soft cheese

salt and pepper

1 lemon

1 tsp Allepo pepper or chilli