This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
4
servings10
minutes18
minutesThis soup is rich and buttery and, funnily enough, not too garlicky. Wild garlic has several names (scroll down to see them) and is freely available (literally!) in the hedgerows. It has a mellow taste. Used traditionally throughout Europe as a spring tonic due to its blood-purifying properties, it’s also thought to lower cholesterol and blood-pressure, which in turn helps to reduce the risk of diseases such as heart attack or stroke.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil + tbsp butter
1 onion, chopped
600g potatoes, peeled and diced
1.2 litres veg stock
50g wild garlic leaves, shredded
crème fraîche or double cream, to serve
wild garlic flowers (optional)
Directions
- Add the potatoes and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
- Add the wild garlic leaves, reserving a few shreds for garnishing the soup.
- Blitz in a blender or food processor until smooth, with flecks of wild garlic leaves. Reheat in the pan, seasoning to taste.
- Serve with a swirl of crème fraîche or double cream, a few shreds of wild garlic and a few wild garlic flowers, if you have them.
Notes
- I swapped one tbsp of oil for 1 tbsp of butter as I found it adds a certain richness.
- Leaves, stems and flowers of wild garlic are all edible. Can be used to make pesto too.
Allium ursinum, known as wild garlic, ramsons, buckrams, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek or bear’s garlic, is a bulbous perennial flowering plant in the amaryllis family Amaryllidaceae. It is a wild relative of onion, native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in moist woodland.