Free for all: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's foraged wild greens recipes | Food (2024)

One thing I make time for every year, no matter how busy I am, is a little springtime foraging. Even if it's only a few exploratory rambles, this is a non-negotiable part of my annual schedule. It's long been my belief that wild food you've gathered yourself is mind-broadening, confidence-boosting and soul-enriching, and the great thing about spring foraging is that it's so easy – everything is shooting, budding and generally advertising itself. Plus, early season growth is often sweet and tender, the cream of the crop.

The three wild plants I've focused on this week are among the most widespread and accessible edible spring greens you're likely to find in the British Isles. There are many more, of course, everything from young chickweed shoots (great in salads) to tiny, butter-yellow broom buds (ace in a stir-fry) and deliciously bitter young dandelion leaves. There are several books that will guide you on a sortie to seek out these and other wild treats – among my favourites are Richard Mabey's classic Food For Free, and my friend and colleague John Wright's River Cottage Hedgerow Handbook and Edible Seashore Handbook.

Sea beet, or sea spinach, is the genetic ancestor of beetroot, chard and perpetual spinach, and shares similar thick, pointed leaves and firm stems. As the name suggests, it's usually found by the coast, and at pretty much any point around our shores. Its glossy, fleshy leaves –sometimes red-tinged – and, in summer, waving flower-spikes will probably be a familiar sight if you've ever spent any time walking near the sea. The leaves are an excellent vegetable and can be served in just about any recipe that calls for cooked spinach. Picked young, juicy and glossy, you may well decide it's the best spinach you've ever tasted.

Wild garlic, meanwhile, is one of my favourite foraging finds. Also known as ramsons, bear garlic and stinking jenny, its pungent allium scent will lead you to it before you see it. Damp, shady, wooded places are the best hunting grounds, and it grows all over the UK. It's a pretty plant, with long, tulip-like leaves and tiny, white, starry flowers. Where it's really abundant, you can dig it up and eat the little bulbs, too, but Iprefer to harvest handfuls of the leaves, which have a delicately garlicky flavour. Use raw in salads or cook them lightly – try shredding and adding to soups, risottos or omelettes, always towards the end of cooking, to preserve their flavour. Alternatively, use them raw in apesto (see my recipe below).

Whether it's just one of these plants that takes your fancy, or all of them, Ihope you'll embark on a little adventure close to home, and have afew wild green feasts this spring.

Creamed sea beet gratin

You can also make this with spinach. It's especially good alongside sausages or black pudding. Serves four as a side dish.

Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
500g sea beet, stalks removed (unless they are very tender, in which case leave them on), washed
About 50g coarse breadcrumbs
About 50g grated cheddar (or other flavoursome cheese)

Bring a pan of water to a boil and salt it lightly. Drop the sea beet into the boiling water, cook for two to three minutes and drain. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the water, then chop coarsely.

Put the milk in a pan with the bay leaf and onion. Bring to just below boiling, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. When melted and bubbling, stir in the flour to make a smooth roux. Let this bubble over a gentle heat for about three minutes, then remove from the heat, add a quarter of the warm milk (if it's cooled right down, reheat it gently before you add it) and beat vigorously to form a smooth paste. Add another quarter of the milk and beat again until smooth. Repeat with the remaining milk. When you have a smooth sauce, return the pan to the heat and simmer gently, stirring often, for four to five minutes.

Heat the grill to medium. Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the sea beet and season to taste. Spread the mixture in a shallow ovenproof dish, scatter with the breadcrumbs and cheese, and grill until golden and bubbling. Serve straight away.

Wild garlic and walnut pesto

Fresh pesto is always so much more delicious than a shop-bought one. Toss this into hot pasta, swirl it into a vegetable soup, use on bruschetta or crostini, or serve with roast veg. These quantities make enough for pasta sauce for four.

50g shelled walnuts

35g parmesan (or other hard, mature cheese), finely grated

Finely grated zest of ½ lemon, plus a good squeeze of lemon juice

100-150ml extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Put the nuts in an ovenproof dish and toast for five to eight minutes, checking from time to time because they burn easily. Leave to cool.

Put the toasted nuts in a food processor, along with the wild garlic, parmesan and lemon zest. Blitz to a paste, then, with the motor running, slowly add the oil until you have a thick, sloppy purée. Scrape this into a bowl, add a squeeze of lemon and season to taste. This pesto will keep in a jar in the fridge for a few days.

Steamed Alexanders

200g prepared alexanders stems or shoots (ie, from around 8-10 stems)
Knob of butter
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper

With a small, sharp knife, peel away the outer membrane and stringy fibres from the alexanders stems. Trim the ends, then cut the stems into 10-12cm lengths. Put in asteaming basket or sieve suspended over a pan of boiling water, cover and cook for five to 10 minutes, until they are tender and can be pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.