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Wild garlic greens on toast.

Wild garlic greens on toast.

Ingredients

100g sunflower seeds
25g lemon juice
20g wild garlic
40g parsley
90g water
65g Citizens of soil olive oil
½ tsp pink salt
200g fresh violet artichokes
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ juicy lemon + zest
½ tsp salt
100g butterbeans
1 small courgette (about 100g), cut into 3mm rounds
1 tbsp capers
25g parsley, picked

This toast screams spring. Bold greens and fresh flavours from wild garlic, courgettes and violet artichokes are topped with a good drizzle of Citizens of Soil extra virgin olive oil.

"For me eating fresh artichokes is always such a joy; there’s something special about cooking them from scratch," says Kali Jago (@kalicooking), creator of this recipe. If you can’t find fresh or just want a quick, low-fuss toast, tinned or frozen artichokes are excellent substitutes.

This generously serves two and you’ll have extra wild garlic cream, you can use it as a condiment or dip with other meals, or thin it with olive oil and water to make a dressing.

Wild garlic has a very short season, so get hold of when you can.

Here's the method:

Generously feeds 2.

Preheat the oven to 120°C.
Place all the ingredients for the wild garlic cream into a blender and blend until smooth, set aside.
Make a lemon water bath for the artichokes, squeeze a little lemon juice into a mixing bowl and top up with cold water(this will help stop the artichokes from going brown while you prepare them).
Peel the first few layers off the violet artichokes, and trim away any woody bits around the edges, a peeler is good for this.
Trim very tip—it can sometimes be a little tough. Quarter them and place them into the lemon water as you go.
Heat a medium shallow pan, add the olive oil, artichokes, lemon juice, butterbeans, and a splash of water. Cook gently for about 6-8 minutes, until the artichokes are tender—you should be able to slide the tip of a knife easily into the meaty part.
Toast your bread.
Just before serving, mix in the courgette and parsley into the artichokes. Generously spread your wild garlic cream onto the toast, top with the artichoke mix, and finish with a drizzle of olive oil.

Notes from the chef:

If you’re using tinned or frozen artichoke, or tinned, simply quarter the artichoke and use it in the same way. Frozen artichoke hearts are also a great alternative; slice these and cook in the same way.

Top tip:

If you miss wild garlic season, don’t worry—swap it for another soft herb like basil, mint, or dill.

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