Wild Garlic Soup Adventure

We don’t do pesticides in our yard and really haven’t been able to do much work on our property yet, so our grass has LOTS of plants other than grass growing in it which used to drive me crazy but now makes me really happy…  BECAUSE I had NO IDEA how delicious wild garlic was!!!!

I think what we have on our property is both wild garlic and onion grass but I’m really not positive.  They both look really similar and at times are hard to tell apart but one of them is larger (the garlic) and the other is smaller (the onion grass.) The garlic one grows blooms in the summer (where we have tall grasses) and the onion one doesn’t.  This is all new to me so if anyone knows for sure, I’d love to know!!  Anyway, one of my favorite books that I don’t spend nearly enough time with is Georgia Pelligrini’s Modern Pioneering, and she writes about cooking with wild garlic and shares a recipe for a sweet wild garlic soup with cinnamon, and so we decided we’d try to make our own savory version of wild garlic soup.  (we’re salt fiends!!)  It’s a great excuse to get outside and have a “mission” to complete.  At first, I honestly had to nag for help, but by the end they were all into it.

On Easter we headed outside to forage for wild garlic and it was such a beautiful day… Let me be clear that our kids frolicking peacefully outside in cute clothing while picking flowers and greens is absolutely NOT something that happens every day.  This was Easter and I had to force (possibly threaten) the boys to keep on their “dress” clothes which are literally just khakis through dinner.

But they got over it fairly quickly which has definitely given me the desire to force more of this behavior lol.

We found so much more than just garlic & onion grass…

The cut glass vase is available in our new shop and I still have this arrangement by my bedside right now:

I truly get so much joy out of looking over and seeing “weeds” my little guy found himself and picked for me.  Wildflowers and weeds aren’t always around but they’re a really happy spot in life when they are.

When we had a huge basketful of the wild garlic/ onion grass, we brought it in and washed it all.

We then tore off the roots and cut the bulbs off to use in the soup.  I set the green tops aside.

We sautéed about a cup of wild garlic bulbs + a chopped while fennel bulb.  Then we added in about 8 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of chopped potatoes and simmered for about an hour.

Afterward we strained it through a fine mesh strainer twice because the garlic bulbs are fibrous.  I took the tops/ grass and blended them with olive oil, salt and pepper and strained the solids out keeping only the oil portion to make a delish drizzle on top (inspired by a chive pesto I once had in High Point, NC and have never stopped thinking about.)

DIRECTIONS:

• Wash the bulbs (approx 1 cup) and chop off the tops, setting aside for later.
• Chop up 1 fennel bub and 2 cups of potatoes (we used brown/russet)
• Sautée about 1 cup of wild garlic bulbs + the chopped fennel
• Add in about 8 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of potatoes and simmer for about an hour.
• Meanwhile, work on the drizzle.  Blend the tops/ grass and with a few tablespoons of olive oil (not extra version), salt and pepper.  Strain the solids out with a fine mesh strainer and set aside.
• Back to the soup: When the soup is done cooking and the potatoes are soft, blend it with an immersion blender until creamy and there are no lumps.
• Strain the soup with a fine mesh strainer because the bulbs are fibrous.  It took us two times through.
• Pour it in a bowl and drizzle some of the grass oil on top. + then spin or shake that baby to make it look pretty:

I’m seriously obsessed with this soup and it was DEFINITELY labor-intensive but totally worth it.  Next time I plan to make twice as much and freeze half of it.  Anyway, hope you enjoyed seeing some photos from our soup adventure and I hope you’re doing okay.  Things are so heartbreaking right now and I know hope you’re holding up.  Sending so much love.

To check out the recipe & downloadable recipe card for the soup + chive drizzle go here.