Garlic Mustard Recipe - Garlic Mustard Roulade

First year leaves

While garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) is a completely edible weed, there are some who have differing opinions on its level of tastiness. We like to eat it in all stages of its growth, but prefer the second year's growth of triangular leaves growing along the flowerstalk to the first year's kidney-shaped leaves growing from the basal rosette. We also like to eat the more tender tops of the flower stalk, boiled and served with a little bit of butter and salt. We steam lots of the greens to keep in the freezer and add to other recipes that call for greens all winter long. The root has a nice horseradish-like flavor to be grated into dishes for a hot bite. The small, white flowers also have the hotness of the root, and make a good addition to a raw salad. The black, comma-shaped seeds can be ground to make a hot mustard or a tasty dressing.

Second year leaves and
flower stalks

Some people may be turned off by the touch of bitterness found in the leaves, but we find it adds a depth to food to have the bitter taste along with savory tastes. Boiling the leaves two times in clean water would be an option to removing the bitterness, rather than cooking something with raw leaves and disliking the bitter flavor of the recipe. Garlic mustard might not be for everyone, but it is nutritious, highly invasive and easily gathered in quantity. Add it to standard recipes that call for greens, like spanikopita, scrambled eggs, Indian saag, in a green hummus or felafel, and in pesto. Here is a recipe for a roulade, made with the blanched and chopped leaves. The center of the roulade can be filled with cheese, other cooked vegetables, or perhaps some cooked, shredded chicken breast along with the cheese for a hearty meal.


Garlic Mustard Roulade                            makes one 12" roll, about 8 servings

1 pound garlic mustard greens, flower stalks, and flowers
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. smoked paprika
2 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
2c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Prepare a sheetpan with parchment paper.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the garlic mustard greens for 1 minute. Shock the greens in ice water to stop the cooking process, and squeeze as much water from them as possible.
3. Add the cooked greens to a food processor. Add the nutmeg, salt,smoked paprika,granulated garlic, black pepper and egg yolks. Pulse until the garlic mustard greens are finely chopped.
4. In a mixer, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the greens mixture, mixing until no more whites are seen. Then gently fold in the remaining egg whites, until the mixture is uniform.
5. Spread the garlic mustard and egg mixture evenly on the parchment paper covered sheetpan, leaving an inch of exposed paper around the entire edge. Bake until the egg is set, about 12-15 minutes.
6. Loosen the roulade from the parchment paper. Sprinkle the top with whatever you are using as a filling, or just cheese.
7. Starting with the wider side, roll the roulade up like a jelly roll, ending seam side down. Bake an additional 10 minutes to melt the cheese and warm the filling.

Garlic mustard flowers