Spring Garlic Linguine
It’s time to harvest our spring garlic here at Laurelbank Farm. You perhaps haven’t heard of it, so let me explain…
It’s a whole, immature garlic plant - harvested now, before it has had a chance to “bulb up”. It’s a very handy way of using up all the small garlic cloves when planting garlic back in October - small cloves always result in small bulbs so we either have to cook them (very time-consuming to peel) or use them in a different way. Hence, spring garlic. (Very popular in fancy restaurants, apparently!)
It looks like a scallion (aka spring onion), but is far more garlicky and substantial. You can use it all, as a substitute for garlic in any recipe - but this week we’re suggesting you chargrill it. We have Claire to thank for this creamy spring garlic linguine. She made it for staff lunch this week and it went down a treat - served with our classic Laurelbank farm green salad, and a wedge of bread to soak up all the sauce. Delicious! Try it out and let me know what you think!
Serves 4
6 spring garlics
1 tablespoon preserved lemon, finely chopped
½ onion, finely chopped (or a few scallions, finely sliced)
100ml sour cream
Good handful of pea shoots
240g dried linguine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Wash the spring garlic well, trim off the roots and the ends of the leaves.
Separate the spring garlic stalks into white parts and green parts. You will have 6 (7-10cm) white bottoms, from root to just where the green leaves start, and 6 green tops.
Toss the spring garlic, (both green and white parts) in a good glug of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Place in a low rimmed oven tray that fits under your grill.
Grill on high until the garlic starts to char and become crispy. Don't be tempted to overfill your tray - the spring garlic won't colour evenly. (I like to char the greens then the whites, separately.)
Meanwhile, sweat-off the finely chopped onion in a large tall rimmed frying pan, with a generous glug of olive oil.
Now is a good time to boil the water for your pasta. Remember to season your water with a heaped teaspoon of salt. Heat-up to a rapid boil.
When the green tops are charred and cooled down, finely chop and add to the frying pan of sweated onions along with the preserved lemon. (Feel free to add in extra olive oil if required.) Continue to cook on a medium heat.
When the water is rapidly boiling cook your pasta to the manufacturer's directions or your preference.
When the pasta is almost ready, add the sour cream to the spring garlic, onion and lemon mixture in the frying pan and stir.
Chop the charred whites of the spring garlic into 2 cm chunks, and tear the pea shoots into smaller sprigs. (Reserve a few good looking ones for decoration.)
Turn your attention back to the frying pan of spring garlic, onion and lemon. The sour cream will have thickened the mixture, so add in a ladle of the boiling pasta water, season and taste. If the sauce is still too thick add another half ladle. Now, stir in the charred spring garlic whites.
Strain the pasta and add straight into the frying pan of spring garlic, onion, lemon and sour cream sauce and stir. Taste for seasoning.
Finally, stir through the torn pea shoots. Serve immediately with a good crack of black pepper and decorate with your pretty reserved pea shoots. Tuck in!
