Wild garlic season is here again. Everywhere I walk I can see swathes of it claiming more and more ground and its pungent smell lingers in the air. After weeks of thinking about it, I finally picked some to cook with. I decided to team it up with equally green Spring staple – green peas to make green pea dip with wild garlic. The two go so well together and this simple dip is so easy to make and a perfect respite from hummus which I eat so often.
I enjoy this simple green dip for lunch or light dinner with a plate of Spring crudités – cucumber, French radishes, sugar snaps and celery sticks – and some toasted sourdough. It’s fresh, crunchy, green and full of plant protein, just what the doctor ordered for this transitional time between cold and warm weather. It’s so simple to make that I hope you’ll give it a go too.
MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS
GREEN PEAS: I used easy to get frozen green peas for this recipe although fresh will be even nicer, I bet. I smaller green peas variety, which goes under the romantic French name of petits pois as they are sweeter and more delicious in my opinion.
WILD GARLIC: It’s wild garlic season and they are growing everywhere around me so this inspired me to add a healthy handful of wild garlic leaves to this dip. If you cannot add any, add a clove of garlic instead. You may want to pan fry it in a little oil first to mellow it out a big. Chives and green parts of spring onions (scallions) – added to taste – would also work well. Also, you could add some fresh herbs, like mint or basil, to give this dip a different yet equally delicious flavour profile.
AVOCADO: I added half an avocado to make this dip creamy without the need to add excessive amount of oil. Avocado flavour is dimmed by wild garlic and lemon so it does not come through.
LEMON: I added a generous amount of lemon zest and juice to add much needed acidity and some fragrance to this simple dip. I went for 3 tablespoons of juice to give the dip a detectable tang, but use as little or as much as you like.
NUTRITIONAL YEAST: I added a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast for subtle cheesy flavour. If you don’t have any, a small amount – start with 1-2 tsp and add more if needed – of yellow miso paste will also work nicely.
OLIVE OIL: I added a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil for a more luxurious mouthfeel and drizzled some more olive oil on top when serving, but you can skip either or both of these if you wish to make this dip oil-free.
HOW TO MAKE IT?
1) BOIL & SHOCK
To begin with, briefly boil the peas and blanch wild garlic. As soon as they are ready drain them and plunge into a bowl of cold (ice cold ideally) water to stop them from cooking any further and to preserve their vibrant green colour.
2) BLEND & SEASON
Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until fairly smooth. If you want no texture at all, use a blender instead. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper and a pinch of sugar if liked. Serve alongside other dips, with spring veg crudities and toasted bread.
- 250 g / 8.8 oz / 2 cups frozen petits pois or green peas
- 50 g / 1.75 oz (large handful) wild garlic* / ramsons
- ½ ripe avocado
- 1 lemon
- 7 g / 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil*
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Boil a medium pot of water.
- Prepare a large bowl with cold water – ideally, add a few ice cubes.
- Boil the peas until just tender – my petits pois took 3 minutes and blanch garlic leaves for the last 30 seconds.
- Drain and plunge both into the cold water to preserve their colour. Drain well.
- Place drained peas, squeezed wild garlic leaves, avocado, zest of a lemon, nutritional yeast and olive oil in a food processor.
- Blend until quite fairly smooth. Season with lemon juice to taste (I added about 3 tbsp), salt and pepper to taste. I also like to add a pinch of sugar.
- Transfer to a bowl, drizzle with a little more oil if liked. Serve alongside a platter of spring veg crudites and toasted bread.
*OLIVE OIL: you can skip it if you want to keep this dip oil-free.