Wild Garlic and Pancetta Spaghetti

When wild garlic season hits in the spring, you’ll find me going feral in London parks seeking it out, joining the swathes of trendy looking people in the bushes clutching old tote bags filled with the stuff. It tastes like something between the top of a leek and garlic - gently allium-y and bright. I eat it in lots of ways, but this is categorically one of my favourites.

Serves 2

a handful of wild garlic

2 egg yolks

50g parmesan

60g whole chunk of pancetta

220g spaghetti

Salt, pepper and olive oil

1. Bring a medium sized pan of water to a boil. Add your wild garlic, and cook for 30 seconds, then remove from the pan with tongs. Dunk the wild garlic straight into a bowl of iced water to cool, then pat it dry.

2. Roughly chop the wild garlic, then add it to a pestle and mortar. Bash it to a paste, then add your egg yolks, parmesan and lots of black pepper. Mix it to combine.

3. Cut your pancetta into little chunks.

4. Bring your pan of water back up to a boil, then season it generously. Add your spaghetti, and cook it until it is al dente, about 6 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a saute pan. Add your pancetta over a very low heat, and fry for about 3 minutes, or until the pancetta is crispy and lots of fat has rendered out.

6. Tong your spaghetti into the pancetta pan along with a ladle of the pasta cooking water, and give it a mix. Take your pan off the heat. Add your wild garlic eggy sauce, and toss it to combine, adding more pasta water as you need.

7. Tong your spaghetti onto plates, and top it with more parmesan and black pepper. Serve it up.