Green garlic signals spring to me just as much as asparagus does. When I see them at my farmer's market I get all excited because they aren't around for long, a month maybe.
What to do with green garlic? You can treat them as you would regular garlic or leeks or onions. They look like really fat green onions (or smaller leeks) and go really mellow and sweet when sauteed. I like to make souffle or soup with them. We started our Easter meal yesterday with this quick and easy Green Garlic soup.
I was recently sent a bottle of Pernod to try, and since I love the licorice flavor of fennel in my rustic vegetable soups, but didn't have any fennel on hand, I added a shot to the soup and it was delicious without being overpowering. (Plus it's nice to have on hand for cocktails.)
GREEN GARLIC SOUP WITH PERNOD
Serves 6.
If you'd rather use fresh fennel than Pernod, add one small chopped fennel bulb to the garlic sautee and proceed from there. A stick blender will make quick work of this.
- 2 bunches of green garlic (about 10 stalks), cleaned, trimmed, and chopped (remove top 2-3 inches)
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 glugs of olive oil
- 2 pats of unsalted butter
- 1 shot of Pernod
- 6 cups of chicken or veggie stock (or water)
- 2 medium potatoes, chopped (I never peel potatoes, but you can if you like.)
- sea salt and fresh pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup or so of heavy cream
Saute green garlic and garlic in butter and olive oil over medium heat until just starting to caramelize (about 10 minutes). Be careful not to overly-brown. Deglaze pan with Pernod, stir, scraping up all the crusty bits. Add in stock and raise heat to med-hi. When stock starts to simmer, add in potatoes. Cook about 15-20 minutes until potatoes are softened then remove from heat and whiz soup with a stick blender until very smooth. Season to taste, stir in cream, warm through, and serve. (Once cream has been added, do not boil soup.) If you want a very smooth soup, strain it through a chinois or fine-mesh strainer, but it's not necessary.
