Baby Bärlauch Blüemeli

These little wild garlic Blümeli, or flowers, are the smaller versions of my big Bärlauch Blüemeli.

Perched on top of a light salad and they even make a great starter.

You can experiment with twisting the ‘petals’. Try twisting two towards each other, or cutting more and turning them all in the same direction.

1 onion, chopped

150 g spinach, chopped

10-15 leaves of Bärlauch (wild garlic), chopped

250 g Ricotta

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

salt and pepper

2 packages rectangular puff pastry (about 320-360 g each)

Preheat the oven to 200° C.

Melt the butter in a medium frying pan. Add the onions and saute for a few minutes, then add the spinach and wild garlic and sauté until cooked.

Transfer the spinach mixture to a medium bowl, let cool a bit, then add the ricotta, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper. Mix well with a fork.

Cut out six 12 cm rounds from each packet of puff pastry (set aside leftover pastry—I typically make Bärlauch spirals). Place the slices on a lined baking sheet.

Spread a good tablespoon of the filling evenly on the first round, leaving a small border.

Place a second round on top of the first and press the edge well with a fork.

Place a small glass (I use a shot glass) in the center of the disk, then make 8-16 even cuts from the edge of the glass to the edge of the dough.

Take two adjacent pieces of dough and turn them both towards each other. Twist a second time and then pinch the ends together. Repeat this process until all pieces are twisted.

Brush the top with egg and bake for about 15-20 minutes, until golden.

You can use fresh or frozen spinach here—you just need to cook the frozen spinach a bit longer so that it thaws and the excess water cooks off.
If you have a very warm kitchen, or it feels difficult to form the petals, pop the flowers in the freezer for a bit and let the filling and dough firm up.
Makes 6 flowers—you can re-roll the dough and use it to make Bärlauch Spiralen.
The bigger Bärlauch Blüemeli takes longer to bake, but is a little less finicky to form.