Wild garlic pesto and oil

Wild Garlic Foraging

Ok, you know it’s Spring when you walk into the woods and get hit in the face with a massive waft of wild garlic!

Have you foraged for Wild Garlic?

Now. I am by no means an expert when it comes to foraged food.

Blackberries and wild garlic are probably the only ones I dare to do!

But wild garlic is ace. And it’s so easy to find! I mean, find a damp spot and you won’t be disappointed! Plus, it’s a really cool way to incentivise a walk and there are loads of cool things to do with your foraged findings!

When do I pick Wild Garlic?

Any time between the end of March and probably the beginning of June-ish. Although by that point you might be struggling!

Where can I pick Wild Garlic in the Yorkshire Dales?

Well, anywhere that’s damp and dark. It likes shady spots, and nutrient rich soil, so that’s a great starting point.

How do I know it’s Wild Garlic?

Crush it between your fingers. If it smells of garlic, that’s it! But like I say, I am no expert, so we always find the Woodland Trust’s website really helpful!

Wild Garlic Pesto

This makes a portion for a family of 4….

50g Wild Garlic

25g Parmesan

25g Toasted pine nuts

Half a small lemon

A good glug of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

  1. Thoroughly wash and dry your garlic. Believe me, you don’t want to bite into a bug! Chop it up as finely as possible.

  2. Toast and crush your pine nuts, we like to leave some whole too!

  3. Finely grate some parmesan and stir it in

  4. Glug in some Olive Oil, you might like more, you might like less, so go with your taste!

  5. Squeeze in some lemon juice. We used about half a small lemon, but keep tasting it!

  6. Salt and Pepper. To taste.

  7. Stir it all, and stir into pasta!

Thanks to the Woodland Trust website for the inspo on this (link above).

Garlic Butter

Unsalted Butter as much as you like!

Sea salt.

Finely chopped up Wild Garlic.

In terms of quantities, we used about 150g of Butter, and a generous handful of chopped wild garlic.

  1. Get your butter to room temp.

  2. Stir in a generous pinch of sea salt and chopped garlic!

  3. Pop it into a container that can be covered and pop in the fridge.

Garlic Oil

Olive Oil

A large handful of wild garlic.

  1. Put your olive oil and wild garlic in an airtight container. We used a kilner jar.

  2. Leave it for 2 - 3 weeks and then remove the garlic!

Walking in the wild garlic
Wild Garlic in Middleton Woods Ilkley

Middleton Woods, Ilkley

Where did we find our wild garlic? Middleton Woods in Ilkley! Why not check out our walk?

Tap HERE for our Middleton Woods walk!

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