Wild garlic greens on toast.

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.