Wild garlic and nettles are the first to arrive in spring and are much needed greens after the winter season. Wild garlic, also known as ramps, are a sure sign of spring. When you smell garlic when walking though the forest, it’s time to start picking leaves. Speaking of leaves: in order to eat ramps sustainably, it is important to harvest ONLY the leaves and leaving the bulbs in the ground for the next year. Since wild garlic has become so popular, it is in danger of becoming extinct because often times the whole plant is dug out.
Last year I posted a recipe for hummus with wild garlic and this year I decided to make pie with the ramps and spinach. This pie is made with strudel (or filo) pastry dough and filled with greens and feta cheese. It’s delicious hot and cold, too.
Wild garlic pie
- 100g butter
- 40g fresh dill, chopped
- 100g wild garlic
- 300g spinach
- 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
- 500g feta, crumbled
- 5 eggs
- 1 package strudel (or filo) pastry
Melt the butter over low heat and set aside. Wash the wild garlic and spinach and place in a large pot. Cook the greens until wilted and drain. Once cooled chop coarsely. Place the greens, dill and onions along with the feta in a large bowl with the eggs.
Heat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C and brush a 28cm x 6cm deep springform pan with some melted butter. Unroll the pastry and set aside 2 sheets. Brush each of the remaining sheets of pastry, one at a time, with more butter, then use to line the tin, the sheets first one way and then the other, overlapping them and leaving the edges overhanging, continuing until you’ve used all but the 2 reserved sheets.
Pile the mixture into the pastry-lined tin and fold the overhanging pastry loosely over the top. Butter and loosely ruffle the remaining 2 sheets of pastry over the top, then brush with more melted butter. Put in the oven with an empty baking sheep beneath to catch any dripping butter. Bake for 60 min or until the filling has set and the pastry is golden. To test for readiness, stick a skewer into the center, then gently press the top. No liquid should appear, but if it does, bake a little longer.
