We’re lucky enough to have lots of wild garlic growing in parts of our garden. Before moving, we used to carefully forage in the wild for a few leaves to make pesto and garlic butter. Now that we have so much of it, we’ll be using it to make so much more… beginning with this wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread.
This year, for some reason, we’ve left it a little late to harvest. Leaves should be picked before the flowers come into bloom; which generally happens in early May. If you’re picking in the wild, try to pick only a couple of leaves from each plant. Don’t exhaust the plant or leave massive bald patches in the woodland floor; don’t pick more than you need. For this recipe, you only need a handful… only about a dozen or so leaves.
The goats cheese I used was quite a wet, gooey one, but you could always use a more crumbly-textured kind. The flavours of the wild garlic and goats cheese really complement each other. While it was cooking, the cheesy, garlicky smell engulfing the kitchen was mouth-watering!
I like it still warm from the oven, with just a bit of butter spread over – melting into the crumb. Justin thinks it’s delicious as an accompaniment to poached eggs, bacon or cooked ham.
Click here or on the image below to save my wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread recipe to Pinterest
Wild garlic & goats cheese soda bread
Ingredients
- 350 ml/12fl oz buttermilk or 330ml/11½fl oz full cream milk with the juice of a lemon stirred in
- 200 g/7oz wholemeal flour
- 200 g/7 oz plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 100 g/3½oz goats cheese cubed
- handful of wild garlic leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/Gas mark 5
- Grease & line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, bicarb and salt
- Add the cubed goats cheese and chopped wild garlic leaves and toss to combine. Make a well in the middle
- Pour in the buttermilk and bring the dough together. Don't overwork
- Empty the dough out on to a well-floured work surface and form into a ball. Again don't overwork
- Put the dough ball on to the prepared baking sheet. Score with a deep cross on top
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is a lovely golden brown
- Take off the baking sheet on to a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes
- Slice and serve warm
If you don't have buttermilk, make something similar by stirring the juice of a lemon into full fat milk and allowing it to sit for about ½ an hour before use
