march

Our favourite March seasonal recipes featuring the best from our greengrocers. 

Wild garlic, our favourite thing to forage, comes into season this month until early June (but its flavour is best when young.)  Try Delicious Magazine’s Wild garlic, tarragon and mint roast chicken. Or try our wild garlic aioli recipe below.

Nduja croquettes & wild garlic aioli

A fun little snack to use this amazing wild foraged delicacy. These killer treats can sit in your freezer ready for a drink at the end of the day. Not every day, mind!

For the croquettes

50 g Butter
60 g Flour
160 g Milk
240 g Nduja
1 Egg yolk
100 g Breadcrumbs

• Heat the flour and butter until it smells like biscuits and has gone brown. Whisk in the milk and cook to a thick bechamel.
• Add the nduja and mix until smooth. Pour into a tub and chill in the fridge. Overnight is best.
• Shape the mix into croquettes with two spoons, creating quenelle egg shapes between them and toss them in some flour.
• Whisk the egg yolk with a little water in a bowl and toss croquette shapes.
• In another bowl, add your breadcrumbs and toss the eggy croquette shapes until covered.
• Store in the fridge or better yet the freezer, they can be cooked from frozen.
• To serve, heat sunflower oil in a large wide high pot. Do not fill any higher than 1/3 full, heat to 170c. Fry in batches of 2 or 3 until they are all fried golden. Check the temperature inside is above 60c.
• Sever with the wild garlic aioli and a squeeze of delicious lemon

For the wild garlic aioli

90 g Wild garlic 
450 g Sunflower oil
3 Egg yolks
30 g Cider vinegar
15 g Dijon mustard

• Blitz the oil and wild garlic until it becomes hot in a good blender.
• Pour it through a very fine sieve or even better a coffee filter.
• Whisk the egg yolk, mustard and vinegar together and then, slowly at first, the bright green wild garlic oil, whisk until it is nice and tight. Season with salt and pepper.
• Store for up to 3 days in a fridge, use it liberally with everything, lamb chops are incredible.

Hares, rainbows and… purple sprouting broccoli, a UK crop that should have a much higher status. Bright green stems and dark purple flowers on this stunning late winter brassica. The taste is deep but sweet and suits simple pairings that let it speak for itself. Think asparagus but much earlier in the year.

Purple sprouting broccoli & gribiche

Feeds 4 (6 as a starter)

600g Purple sprouting broccoli  
3 x 7 min boiled eggs
15g Dijon mustard
15g Red wine vinegar
150g Sunflower oil
20g Capers
20g Cornichon
Handful Parsley
Handful Chervil
8g Salt
Pinch of Pepper
Olive oil

• Drop the eggs into boiling water for 7 mins. Run under a cold tap for a minute after cooking, then peel and chop.
• Mix the vinegar and mustard and whisk in the sunflower oil.
• Chop through the capers, cornichon, parsley and chervil.
• Stir all of the above into a delicious melange and season. This keeps in a fridge for 1 day safely.
• Cut the purple sprouting broccoli into long think stems.
• Blanche for between 5-7 mins in salty water. Toss in a little olive oil and salt.
• Serve on a big generous platter with a huge dollop of the gribiche beside it!