Our extensive, cold, dark winters mean spring pod veggies arrive late up listed here in Lancashire. But when they do ultimately make an visual appeal, they are plentiful, so we normally try to make the most of them whilst we can. At The Parkers Arms, I frequently pair peas and beans with regional nutty new potatoes, a braise that reminds me of my mom every single time I make it. On warm times, she’d make a thing similar, then set it in the fridge overnight and provide it chilly the subsequent working day on butter lettuce. I’ve added a few sliced spring onions to the blend, mainly because their delicate allium acidity balances the sweetness of the peas or, even greater, incorporate some shredded wild garlic leaves, if you’re lucky to have a patch nearby (the forests and grounds around us at the Parkers have been carpeted with the things lately). Spring braises these types of as this are rapid to assemble, and really don’t demand long cooking, either – with fresh, seasonal ingredients these as this, the significantly less you do to them, the much better they constantly style.
Baked backyard garden peas with spring onions (or wild garlic) and jersey royals
You will want an oven-to-table cooking dish with a lid, and fantastic bread or steamed rice to provide together with.
Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
1kg peas in their pods, podded, pods reserved
Salt and black pepper
50ml sunflower oil
300g jersey royals, scrubbed thoroughly clean
2 bunches spring onions, trimmed and coarsely sliced, or 2 big handfuls wild garlic leaves, washed
3 sprigs contemporary mint, moreover a few leaves to garnish
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
50ml great-high quality further-virgin olive or rapeseed oil
Put the empty pea pods in a massive pan with a litre of h2o and a teaspoon of salt, carry to a boil, then cook dinner for 10 minutes. Strain the liquid into a more compact pan (discard the invested pods), then cut down the liquid to 500ml.
Heat the oven to 180C (160C enthusiast)/350F/fuel 4, and pour the sunflower oil into an ovenproof casserole or comparable. Halve the potatoes, season, then toss in the oil to coat and set up slice aspect up in the base of the pot.
Include the podded peas and period all over again to taste. Scatter the spring onions (or wild garlic leaves) more than the great deal, include the mint sprigs and lemon zest, then pour the minimized pea pod inventory over the major.
Pop the lid on the pot, then transfer to the oven and prepare dinner for 15 minutes. Switch down the warmth to 160C (140C admirer)/315F/gasoline 2½, consider off the lid and bake for a different 10 to 15 minutes, until eventually the potatoes are cooked through.
Rip the mint leaves all about the dish, then anoint all the things with great oil and squeeze over the lemon juice. Provide direct from the cooking pot, hot or at space temperature, with crusty bread or steamed rice and a crisp salad.
