Beloved Sir and I have just had a great 24 hours near Tenby, South Wales. We stayed in a lovely hotel with the most beautiful outlook over the estuary (see below). 
We went for a walk – and found a carpet of wild garlic:
so it was back to the car for a bag to collect it! Dense clusters of green spears thrust from the woodland floor in spring and are a sign that the woodland you are walking in is very old. This lovely weather must have brought it out early and I couldn’t wait to get home to make soup with it. I know I am usually asking you not to batch make but it has to be done in this case as the season is really short. This recipe is enough for 4 but freezes beautifully! Not only is it delicious but also helps lower cholesterol and high blood pressure!
Wild Garlic Soup
- 1 onion sliced
- 2 – 3 potatoes (these are for thickening the soup so depends on size)
- 500 ml water
- stock cube (I use a vegetable one)
- milk/crème fraiche/cream
Saute the onion in a little butter in a large saucepan. Add chopped potato, stock cube, and water and bring to the boil. Cook until the potato is soft. Lay 3 – 4 handfuls of the garlic leaves on the top and allow to wilt and cook for 2 – 3 minutes. Cool slightly and, using a hand blender, puree. Put back into the saucepan and add milk or cream or creme fraiche to taste along with plenty of pepper. It never lasts long in our house but will keep in the fridge for 2 – 3 days – or ladle into bags to freeze. Serve with crusty bread and a dollop of creme fraiche.
You might like to try this, too, to add to any other flavoured oils you may have
Wild Garlic Oil – blanch several handfuls of leaves in boiling water for 5 – 10 seconds then immediatly drain and toss into iced water (this keeps the colour). Drain again and wrap in an old tea towel and squeeze all the liquid out. Chop up into small pieces and put in a jam jar or bottle and top up with 150 ml of olive oil.
Ailsa cooks for One 