It’s Wild Garlic Season
Wild garlic has four and half times more sulfur compounds than common garlic, which means it is intensely good for you, offering all kinds of antibacterial and antiviral properties. It is considered one of the most versatile plants on earth and has been used for thousands of years to maintain and improve health. This soup is very silky and clean tasting, my panel of tasters (which may or may not have included a wild turkey), declared it the best thing I’ve ever made. Give it a try!
Georgia Pellegrini’s Wild Garlic Soup
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup wild garlic, cleaned, green stalk snipped, outer layer peeled, and root removed
- 2 cups fennel bulb, diced
- 2 cups red skinned potatoes, cut into small chunks
- 8 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons + 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 pinch cardamom
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 1 pinch cayenne
- 2 tablespoons sherry
- 2 tablespoons fresh chervil or thyme
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Give the wild garlic a rinse and peel back their outer layer, it’s a bit too course. Trim off the green part of the stalk, then snip off the root. You should have clean white, glistening bulbs.
Blanch the garlic for 3 minutes in a large heavy-bottomed pot filled with boiling water, then drain and run under cold water and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in the same pot and sweat the fennel and garlic until browned, soft and translucent. Sprinkle with salt along the way to help release the juices.
Add the potatoes and vegetable stock and simmer covered for about 1 hour, until potatoes are fork tender.
Transfer all contents of the pot to a blender and puree on high for 2-3 minutes. In the last 30 seconds, pour the 1/4 cup olive oil in a thin steady stream to emulsify the soup.
Pour the contents of the blender through a fine mesh strainer back into the pot, leaving the heat off. This will remove the woody fibers from the garlic. Mix in the cardamom, cinnamon, cayenne, and sherry. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of fresh herbs. This soup is also wonderful served at room temperature or chilled and is even better the next day.
For more recipes and information, visit GeorgiaPellegrini.com.
