Roasted Spring Alliums

• 1-2 tablespoons ( in my house) lard from pastured hogs, but coconut or olive oil would be a fine substitute
• 2 pieces green garlic
• 5-6 larger spring onions
• 4-5 sprigs of thyme and/or savory
• 1 dried cayenne
• 3-4 garlic scapes 

Follow the links above to purchase the ingredients for this recipe directly from our farm.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees.

I use a small gratin pan, but a skillet will work too. 

Set your pan over medium high heat on the stovetop, cut the white, hopefully somewhat knobbed ends off the onions. Remove and discard the root end, and add along with your fat/oil to the heating pan. 

Remove the roots from the green garlic, and slice the white portion crosswise into maybe half inch thick rounds. 

Once a good sizzle is developing, stir up the onion, and add the sliced green garlic. 

Set the pan in the oven and give everything some time to brown. Patience is key. The big flavor winner here is caramelization, so take your time, stirring a time or two while things cook, looking for well developed browning. Do not push the oven temp. Quality deep browning takes a little time. 

Slice the greens from both the onions and garlic. Wash the stems from the herbs. Do not even bother to remove the leaves from the stems, or to cut them up, unless they are so long they will hang over the edges of the pan, which is unlikely, unless you go off script, which is perfectly acceptable. 

Snap the stem off of the cayenne, kind of gently roll it between your fingers to loosen the seeds, and shake out as many as you reasonably can. Set the pepper on your cutting board, and run a knife through it a time or two to break it up pretty well. I use the side of the knife to scrape up the bits, and transfer it to the pan, along with a pinch or two of salt.

Cut the garlic scapes, or not, and add along with the sliced onion greens and green garlic, to the pan, turning everything pretty well to disperse the seasoning and pepper bits.  

A small bit of citrus juice, or a splash of white wine is a perfectly acceptable add. If not, add a tablespoon of water. Cover your pan with a lid, or aluminum foil, and return it to the oven. Give it 15 minutes or so, remove from oven, taste and add salt, if needed.

Have a few spears of asparagus? Add it with the greens. 

Some potatoes, or sweet potatoes? Great! Toss them in the pan with the onions, right at the start. 

Thinking you might like to add a handful of mushrooms? Yep. 

Little roast chicken or pork? Add with the greens towards the end. 

Thinking about fish for dinner? Cut it into pieces and add along with the greens, being careful to spread things out evenly in the pan. Consider adding a few lemon or lime slices to the top of the mix before covering and returning the pan to the oven for its final phase.

I like to serve this dish with crusty bread, as the juices in the pan are delicious.