St Patrick's Day kicks off with food tours and a mouth-watering recipe

The 2018 Home of Saint Patrick Festival is well underway across counties Armagh and Down, including a new Food and Walking Tour which takes place on Sunday, March 18.

The tours, which explore links around Armagh city centre to fish, Nigeria and Nothern Ireland in the 5th century with specially selected culinary delicacies and beverages, will also visit Armagh’s award-winning restaurants and most popular pubs.

Guests will enjoy curated menus from both Uluru and 4Vicars restaurants, including breads and tapenade and a delicious seafood gumbo at Uluru while 4Vicars’ head chef Gareth Reid will serve black pudding croquettes, Lough Neagh pollan and wild garlic and nettle orzotto.

Refreshments will be served after the meals at Red Neds and the Hole in the Wall pubs respectively.

For more information and to book, go to visitarmagh.com.

Meanwhile, talented chef Gareth has developed a mouth-watering Garlic and Stinging Nettle Orzotto recipe for The Guide online.

Check it out below:

WILD GARLIC & STINGING NETTLE ORZOTTO

The colour green will be on display a lot this St Patricks Day so we at 4Vicars are getting on message with a delicious green coloured starter using locally foraged wild garlic and nettles. Perhaps Patrick himself would have eaten something similar.

Wild Garlic & Stinging Nettle Orzotto

2 shallots finely minced

50g butter

½ bottle decent white wine

300ml good quality chicken stock or veg stock

100ml double cream

200ml sheeps yoghurt (velvet cloud)

100g finely grated sheeps cheese (cratloe hills)

300g pearled barley rinsed

150g wild garlic washed and picked

100g nettles washed and picked

Sweat shallots in a wide pan with butter for 5minutes covered with a butter paper. Add wine increase heat and reduce by ¾.

Boil barley in salted water for 15mins until tender and drain

Add stock to reduced wine and similarly reduce by ½ then add double cream.

Blanch wild garlic and stinging nettles in boiling salted water for 30 seconds refresh in iced water and dry on kitchen paper. Chop finely and add to the sauce.

Add barley to the garlic sauce and cook for a couple of minutes to allow the flavours to develop remove from the heat and fold in sheep’s yogurt, taste and adjust seasoning.

Served in shallow bowls with grated sheep’s cheese on top, enjoy.