I have all of a sudden found a real interest in foraging. I have explored my local green spaces for edible plants, but I have been unable to find wild garlic. Last weekend I took a trip to the cotswolds and found a valley covered in wild garlic, so I picked a large handful for me to take home. When picking do not uproot the plant- this is actually illegal without the landowners permission and kills the whole plant, take a few leaves from each plant, then wash thoroughly at home. Before cooking just go through again and check that you haven’t accidentally picked leaves from neighbouring plants and that you are 100% sure it is wild garlic you have collected.

Ingredients

For the risotto:

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 white onion, chopped

• 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed

• 300g risotto rice

• 200ml white wine

• 700ml vegetable stock

• 1 can of butterbeans, drained and rinsed.

• Edible flowers for topping (optional)

For the pesto:

• 150g wild garlic

• 50g toasted pine nuts

• Juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Start by heating up the olive oil and frying your chopped wine onion until soft, then add your garlic and rice. Stir the rice until it is translucent and slightly toasted. Add more oil if you need to stop it sticking.

2. Pour in the white wine and stir until it has been absorbed by the rice. Then pour in some stock and keep stirring, adding a little stock at a time until it has been absorbed.

3. While cooking the risotto make the pesto: blend together most of your wild garlic (you want to save a little to stir in at the end), your pine nuts, juice and zest of the lemon, a good pinch of salt and another 2 tbsp of olive oil.

4. Once the rice is mostly cooked, stir in the pesto, then the butter beans, then some shredded wild garlic leaves. Cover and leave for 10 mins, before serving with some pine nuts or a sprinkle of cheese or some edible flowers on top (your choice).