Wild garlic and potato soup with garlic butter croutons
- Portion size: Serves 4, makes about 2 litres
- Hands-on time 45 min
- Difficulty: easy
This creamy wild garlic and potato soup from Debbie Major is made even better with crunchy garlic croutons.
Try using your wild garlic haul in a risotto or homemade ravioli next.
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped
- 500g floury potatoes, such as maris piper, cut into chunks
- 1.2 litres vegetable stock or water
- 200g wild garlic leaves, thick stalks already removed (see Tips)
- 4 tbsp double cream, plus extra wild garlic flowers to garnish (optional)
For the croutons
- 15g butter
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 50g slightly stale, crustless, white country-style bread
Method
- For the soup, melt the butter in a large pan, add the onions, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes or until very soft but not brown. (If using spinach, add the chopped garlic cloves and cook for 2 minutes more). Add the potatoes and stock or water, bring to the boil, then cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very soft.
- Meanwhile, for the croutons, heat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the garlic and olive oil and take off the heat. Tear the bread into little pieces, put them in a bowl and toss with the garlic butter mix. Spread them out on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp and golden. Remove, sprinkle lightly with salt, then leave to cool.
- Roughly chop the wild garlic (or spinach, see Tips), then add to the hot soup pan for 2 minutes or until wilted and softened. Cool slightly, then liquidise the soup in batches until smooth. Return to the pan and bring back to a gentle simmer. Stir in the 4 tbsp cream and some salt and ground white pepper to taste. Ladle into warmed bowls, swirl in a little more cream, then serve scattered with the garlic butter croutons and a few wild garlic flowers, if you wish.
FAQs
Wild garlic appears as early as late February (depending on the weather) but reaches its peak in early April when it may be flowering.
The leaves have a fresh garlicky taste that’s punchy when raw but mellows when cooked.
The leaves will keep fresh for a few days, but you can blanch them in boiling water for 15 seconds, then cool in cold running water. Drain and squeeze dry in a clean tea towel. Whizz or finely chop the leaves, then pack into ice cube trays. Freeze, transfer to a bag, then use from frozen. The wild garlic will keep in the freezer for up to 4 months before it starts to lose its colour and taste.
Yes: swap it for 200g mature spinach leaves and 1-2 fat garlic cloves, chopped.
Nutrition
- 373kcals Calories
- 23.8g (13.7g saturated) Fat
- 8.2g Protein
- 31.7g (4.8g sugars) Carbs
- 4.9g Fibre
- 0.6g Salt
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