LEEK, CHARD AND TARRAGON SOUP WITH WILD GARLIC PESTO

I love the combination of tarragon and garlic, and believe that tarragon with wild garlic is even better.

SERVES 4

1tbsp olive oil

1½tbsp butter

2 leeks, thinly sliced

1.5ltr well-flavoured chicken stock

Large pinch of saffron, soaked in 2tbsp hot water

1 strip of lemon zest

Small bunch of tarragon, stems and leaves separated

Small bunch of baby chard leaves

3 small courgettes, sliced into rounds

75g baby broad beans, blanched and skinned 50g fresh peas

200g cooked chicken (optional)

FOR THE PESTO:

100g wild garlic (a mixture of leaves, stems and buds) 50g Cornish Yarg, crumbled

50g blanched hazelnuts or cobnuts, lightly toasted Zest and juice of ½ lemon Olive oil

TO SERVE:

A few wild garlic leaves A few wild garlic flowers (optional)

Black tahini paste (optional)

1 To make the pesto, roughly chop the wild garlic and put in a food processor. Blitz for a few secs until it starts to break down, then add the cheese, hazelnuts and lemon zest. Blitz again until it is the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Add the lemon juice, then with the motor running, drizzle in olive oil until you have the texture you like. I prefer it thick enough to stay on a spoon, so I add 2–3tbsp, but add as much as you like. Transfer to a sterilised jar – it will be fine in the fridge for several weeks.

2 To make the soup, put the oil and butter in a large casserole. Heat gently. When the butter has melted and is starting to foam, add the leeks. Cover and leave to braise for around 10 mins, stirring every so often, until the leeks are just tender.

3 Pour over the chicken stock, the saffron and its soaking water, the lemon zest and the tarragon stems. Simmer for 5 mins, uncovered, then add the chard leaves, courgettes, broad beans and peas. Simmer until the vegetables are still al dente, another 5 mins. Add the cooked chicken, if using, and allow it to heat through in the broth. Finely chop the tarragon leaves and stir through the soup.

4 Remove the tarragon stems from the soup, then serve garnished with a few wild garlic leaves and flowers (if using) with the pesto (this flavour tends to disappear with heat, so don’t be tempted to add this before serving) and the black tahini paste on the side, to be added at the table.