Wild Garlic & Butter Bean Soup with Roasted Buckwheat

Wild garlic has become all the rage recently and, along with forced rhubarb and asparagus, it has come to symbolise the arrival of spring. It has even become a staple at selected shops – although who doesn’t like to go for a bit of foraging for themselves? 

I loved going with my mum to pick wild garlic as a child – we had an abundance in the woody bit of our garden so we didn’t have to walk far. 😉 She put it in absolutely everything: salads, risottos, polenta, with chicken and fish…just about anything that would respond to a bit of a garlic punch. Looking around on social media, it seems that wild garlic pesto is a firm favourite amongst many but please don’t stop yourself there, as you will see with this soup it works well in many dishes. The sky is your limit with this little green leaf!

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Rose Buttermilk Panna Cotta & Drunken Rhubarb

Overall, Panna Cotta must be one of the best desserts to experiment with! It is a very easy dish to prepare (although it doesn’t look it) and you can make it ahead of time, which is fantastic when you have guests to deal with. It also has a great shelf life – some sources mentioned 10 days, although that sounds a bit optimistic! 😉 It is just so versatile! Once you have found a good base recipe, you can customise it to your taste, either by adding: fruits (passion fruit, strawberry…), flowers (rose, lavender, chamomile…), herbs (basil, rosemary…) or spices (cardamom, cinnamon, star anis…); steep the cream with tea bags (matcha, earl grey…) or exchange the milk with yoghurt, buttermilk or even soft goat cheese – the possibilities are endless!!!

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Roasted Red Pepper Risotto with Burrata & Pesto

Welcome Spring with this beautiful Risotto. It is comforting, satisfying and bursting with flavour. It has the perfect level of creaminess and feels even more indulgent thanks to the burrata. The pesto adds that extra bit of flavour and the rocket some freshness. To sum up, this could become one of your staple dishes as it will leave you wanting more – I’m drooling just looking at the pictures!!! 

Risotto is normally served as a starter, although here it takes centre stage as a vegetarian main course – it is just too gorgeous not to! Serve it to impress your guests or just for a cosy tête-à-tête at home – it is perfect for every situation!

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