Make up your mind, weather gods – arctic winter or spring?
Regardless of the temperature and random sleet showers, there are still a few blankets of wild garlic around, particularly as you move up the country. If you happen to be near one over the coming bank holiday, you should definitely half-inch a bunch.
Because of its relatively short shelf-life, I prefer to use as much of the wild garlic in my possession at the same time as possible, which usually means applying a bit of heat to mellow the flavour. One way to do that is to use a bunch of the stuff in a frittata. Just-set egg, nutty yet sweet new potatoes, tangy goat’s cheese, the odd pop of a pea, and, throughout it all, the soft murmur of garlic and a hint of allium – it’s a winner.
If ramson season is over when you read this, chop up a couple of spring onions and finely slice a clove of garlic instead, wilting them in the butter before adding the egg and spuds.
This recipe was written for my Borough Market Herb Guide.
Wild garlic and goat’s cheese frittata
There’s no more than 15-20 minutes’ work in this, and 10 of which are spent waiting for it to cool. Serve with a crisp salad.
Serves 6
- 8 large eggs
- 200g small new potatoes
- 20-25 wild garlic leaves, roughly chopped
- 100g podded fresh peas (optional … but preferred)
- 80g soft goat’s cheese
- 30g butter
Place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold water. Place over a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil then simmer for 8-12 mins, until the potatoes are tender. Drain, then leave under a running cold tap until room temperature or less. (You could easily cook these in advance or use leftovers from a previous meal). Slice in half lengthways.
Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl. Whisk thoroughly and season with a couple of pinches of sea salt and a good pinch of white pepper. Add the potatoes and the peas (if using).
Turn your grill on.
Place a 22-24cm non-stick, heavy bottomed frying pan on a medium heat. Add 10g of butter. When that’s melted, add the wild garlic and allow to wilt for 60 secs.
Turn the heat up and add the rest of the butter. After 15-20 secs, the butter should be frothing. Pour in the egg mixture and push the potatoes around so they’re evenly spaced.
Turn the heat down a little (to medium again), and cook the frittata for 4 mins. At this point, the sides will come away with a spatula (and look golden underneath), but the centre will be wobbly, almost liquid. Quickly dot chunks of goat’s cheese around the frittata, then place the pan about 8-12cm under the grill. Take care not to melt the pan handle.
Cook for 2-3 mins so there’s just a little wobble left. Remove and leave to rest and firm up for 5-10 mins, then slip the frittata out of the pan onto a serving plate. This is good eaten warm, at room temperature, or cold from the fridge.
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