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Wild garlic is one of the first foraged foods to really flourish in the spring woodlands. It seems to almost come up overnight and what was brown leaf covered woodland floor is suddenly bright green and fragrant with the scent of garlic.
In my part of Norway wild garlic had been seriously overpicked. Enthusiastic foragers without a lot of experience have demolished entire populations of the plant and so we have to be extra careful not to pick more than we need for personal use.
You will find wild garlic growing in abundance in areas that are in dappled shade with plenty of moisture underfoot. It particularly likes to grow in areas close to streams and slower moving rivers. You will probably smell it before you see it. It's not as pungent as a clove of garlic, but the garlic smell is undeniable.
Wild garlic is easy to recognise, but also a little too easy to confuse with another woodland favourite, lily of the valley. You definitely do not want to eat that!!! So before you head out to stock up on wild garlic make sure you do your homework. Wild garlic has long elongated leaves that grow singly from the ground in clumps. Lily of the valley has shorter elongated leaves that grow from a stem. If you are in doubt, pick a leaf, crush it and sniff. Lily of the valley has none of the distinctive garlic smell of wild garlic.
When I want to make a simple meal from just a few ingredients I often rely on a homemade quiche. It's actually pretty popular in Norway despite not being Norwegian at all but here it's called "pai", pronounced pie. The usual fillings are ham and cheese or perhaps broccoli and cheese, but in the spring I love to add foraged foods to the menu. Whenever you are cooking with wild garlic you will find that you need very little of it to get a wonderful result and this quiche recipe makes the most of a few wild garlic leaves to give us a delicious and fragrant and unusual treat.
Wild Garlic and Sun Dried Tomato Quiche. Serves 8 people
Ingredients
For the pastry
200g / 7oz flour
115g / 4oz butter
59g / 2oz cheese
Pinch of salt
Cold water
For the filling
4 medium sized eggs, free range if you can get them
200ml / 6.75 fl oz milk
200ml /6.75 fl oz double or heavy cream
Large handful wild garlic leaves, chopped
50g /2 oz sundried tomatoes, chopped
25g / 1 oz grated cheese such as Cheddar
Salt and pepper
Method
To make the pastry rub together the butter and flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the grated cheese. Gradually add cold water a little at a time until you have a soft but not too sticky dough. Gently knead it together and cover in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180⁰C / 355⁰C
Roll out the dough into a large circle and line a 25cm / 10 inch tart tin. Trim off the excess from around he edges and if you like you can crimp the edges like I have done above.
Spread the chopped garlic evenly on the base and sprinkle over the sundried tomatoes. Beat the eggs with the milk and cream and pour carefully over the filling. Sprinkle the cheese on the top and bake in the centre of the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown on the top and no longer wobbly.
Cool for 10 minutes in the tin before gently removing and cooling completely on a plate.
The quiche is at it's most delicious when it's slightly warm but no longer hot. Serve with a side salad and a few boiled new potatoes for a nice balanced meal.
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