It’s the season for wild garlic and Rachel Allen’s easy ramsons recipes are gorgeously garlicky

Mussels with chorizo and wild garlic

Serves 3-4
You will need:
1kg mussels, tightly shut
100g chorizo, thinly sliced
100ml white wine or dry cider
100ml cream
75g wild garlic leaves, chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Crusty bread, to serve

1 Scrub all the mussels thoroughly and remove the beards. Discard any with open shells that do not close when sharply tapped.

2 Place a large saucepan or casserole pot — one that is big enough to hold all the mussels — on a medium heat. Add the thinly sliced chorizo and the white wine or the dry cider, whichever you’re using, and cook gently over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes to boil the liquid and slightly cook the chorizo.

3 Add the cream and boil for another 2 minutes, then tip in the mussels, cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid, increase the heat to high and cook the mussels for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the mussels have opened. Discard any that haven’t opened.

4 Add the chopped wild garlic and stir it through the sauce. Taste for seasoning, adding sea salt and freshly ground pepper as necessary, then divide the mussels between bowls and pour over the sauce. Serve immediately with some crusty bread to mop up all the juices. 

Wild garlic broth

Serves 6
You will need:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
175g peeled and finely diced potatoes
150g peeled and finely diced onions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g wild garlic leaves
1L chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 Pour the extra-virgin olive oil into a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Add the finely diced potatoes and the finely diced onions, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir to mix. Reduce the heat to low, cover the vegetables with a butter wrapper or a piece of parchment paper and the saucepan lid, and cook for 7 minutes, stirring gently every so often to prevent the potatoes from sticking.

2 While the vegetables are cooking, wash the wild garlic leaves in cold water, drain and toss them dry, either in a colander, a clean tea towel or in a salad spinner.

3 Chop the wild garlic leaves quite finely and set aside.

4 Once the vegetables have been cooking for 7 minutes, add the chicken stock or the vegetable stock, whichever you’re using, bring to the boil over a high heat, then add the finely chopped wild garlic leaves and cook, uncovered, for just 1-2 minutes until the leaves are tender. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary, and serve — or set aside then reheat to serve.

5 A drizzle of wild garlic pesto — see recipe below — is also delicious drizzled over the broth when serving, if you wish. 

Baked chicken with lemon and wild garlic

Serves 4-6
You will need:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 chicken, cut into pieces — breasts , thighs, drumsticks etc
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
125ml white wine
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons and the juice of 1 lemon
1 large sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
300ml chicken stock
2 large handfuls of wild garlic leaves, shredded
1 baguette, cut in 1cm-thick slices, to serve

1 Heat a large casserole pot or saucepan over a medium heat. Add the olive oil, then add the chicken pieces, placing them skin-side down. Cook them on both sides till they are golden brown . Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Pour off and discard any excess fat .

2 Add the white wine and the garlic cloves and boil for a couple of minutes. Next, add the finely grated lemon zest, the lemon juice, the sprig of thyme, the bay leaf, and the chicken stock.

3 Bring it up to the boil , cover with a lid and bake in an oven preheated to 170C (150 fan) 325F, Gas 3 for about 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the shredded wild garlic and place the lid on the pot for 2 minutes until the leaves have wilted.

4 While the chicken is cooking , toast the slices of bread. When the chicken is cooked, serve it in shallow bowls. You can squeeze the soft garlic out of its skin and spread it onto pieces of toast on the side; these can mop up the delicious chicken juices. 

Wild garlic and almond pesto

Makes 1 jar
You will need:
50g wild garlic leaves, weigh when destalked
25g peeled (blanched) almonds — see my Top Tip, below
1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed or finely grated
225ml extra-virgin olive oil
25g finely grated Parmesan or Pecorino or Extra Mature Coolea (a delicious Irish farmhouse cheese)
Salt to taste

1 In a food processor, blend the wild garlic leaves with the almonds, the crushed or finely grated garlic, whichever you are using, and half of the extra-virgin olive oil.

2 Add a bit more extra-virgin olive oil, leaving a few tablespoons for later.

3 Mix in the finely grated cheese and season to taste with salt.

4 Pour the pesto into a sterilised jar, then bang the jar on the worktop to remove any air bubbles. Cover the pesto with the remaining extra-virgin olive oil, then seal the jar with a lid, and store the pesto in the fridge for up to 6 months. 

Rachel Recommends

To blanch (peel) almonds, bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, then drop in the almonds with their skins on. Boil for 1 minute. Take an almond out and test it. If it pops out of its skin then they’re all ready. Drain and cool slightly. Rub in a clean tea towel to remove the skins.

Top Tip

When you want to use some pesto, pour the olive oil from the top of the jar into a small bowl, spoon out the pesto you need, then bang the jar on your worktop. Clean the inside of the jar with kitchen paper, pour the olive oil back over the top, cover and return to the fridge.