This time of year can feel like winter, spring or even early summer. One minute you’re happy with a fistful of asparagus spears and a perfect white egg of burrata, the next you would kill for simple but warming stew ladled into a deep bowl. This month’s collection offers a sample of each, something for a season that can freeze, rain or shine as the mood take it.
Roast new potatoes, creamed spinach
A new potato will roast to a fudgy texture, like a little ball of gnocchi. Score them deeply, toast-rack style, and they will crisp nicely too. Quick note: parmesan must be made with animal rennet in order to be called parmesan, so, strict vegetarians might like to seek out one of the many substitutes on sale.
Serves 4
new potatoes 500g
olive oil 5 tbsp
spinach 100g
double cream 250ml
parmesan 3 tbsp, grated
garlic 2 cloves
butter 30g
flaked almonds 4 tbsp
pea shoots a handful (optional)
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Wash the potatoes, place each one flat on a chopping board, then score them deeply with a knife at 0.5cm intervals, taking care not to cut right through to the chopping board. Toss them in the olive oil, making sure it gets between the slices, then place the potatoes in a roasting tin in a single layer. Bake for 45 minutes until they are golden and fudgy. (I like to turn them over halfway through.)
Wash the spinach, put the leaves and a thin film of water into a large saucepan, cover tightly with a lid, and place over a moderate heat until they start to relax and turn bright green. Remove, refresh in a colander under cold running water then squeeze the leaves with your hands, pressing out most of the water. Roughly chop the spinach then return to the empty pan, add the cream and grated parmesan, and salt and pepper. Warm gently.
Peel and finely slice the garlic. Melt the butter in a shallow pan, add the garlic and cook until golden and lightly crisp. Remove and set aside. Toast the almonds in a dry pan till fragrant and lightly browned.
Spoon the sauce onto plates, add the roast potatoes, almonds and crisp garlic. Scatter a few pea shoots over the top if you wish.
Spring green lasagne
At first glance, this recipe might seem daunting. Much of it, however, involves little more than the chopping and blanching of vegetables. There is a white sauce to make, a couple of cheeses to grate and slice and the rest is an assembly job. It’s a full hour’s work. The result is a creamy, herb-flecked main course that will generously feed six. Note that parmesan is made with animal rennet. There are many vegetarian substitutes available. Most ricotta cheese is suitable for vegetarians.
Serves 6
onion 1 small
cloves 3
milk 600ml
bay leaves 2
parsley stalks 10g
leeks 700g
butter 40g
plain flour 3 heaped tbsp
cabbage or spring greens 150g
broad beans 400g (130g podded weight)
chard 150g
button or small chestnut mushrooms 250g
olive oil 5 tbsp, plus a little extra
tarragon 2 tbsp, chopped
parsley 4 tbsp (picked from the stalks above), chopped
ricotta 300g
parmesan 30g
breadcrumbs 3 tbsp
olive oil 3 tbsp
You will need a deep baking dish approximately 22cm x 24cm.
Peel the onion, halve it and stud it with the cloves. Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the onion, bay leaves and parsley stalks then bring almost to the boil. Remove from the heat and set aside to infuse. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.
Trim the leeks, discarding any tough, dark green leaves, thinly slice the rest and wash thoroughly. Melt the butter in a deep pan, add the leeks and cover with a piece of greaseproof paper, pushing it down onto the leeks, and a lid. Let them cook for 8-10 minutes until they start to soften then sprinkle over the flour and cook for a minute or two before pouring in the warm milk, removing the onion, bay and parsley as you go. Stir well and leave to simmer gently on a low to moderate heat.
Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Pod the broad beans. Separate the chard leaves from their stems. Leave the leaves whole, but finely chop the stems. Separate the leaves of the cabbage or spring greens and wash them. Lower the cabbage or spring greens into the water, leave for one minute to soften, then remove and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the chard leaves. Use the water to cook the broad beans for 5-6 minutes till just tender then drain.
Thickly slice the mushrooms. Warm the oil in a shallow pan, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for five minutes or so till soft and golden. Stir the mushrooms, broad beans, chopped tarragon and parsley into the sauce, season generously with salt and pepper.
Slice the ricotta thinly. Trickle a little oil in the bottom of the dish. Place two or three of the cabbage and chard leaves in the bottom of the dish, then spoon in a third of the sauce. Cover the surface with three more leaves then some of the sliced ricotta, followed by more sauce, ricotta and leaves until you have used them all, finishing with the leaves. Mix together the chopped chard stalks, grated parmesan and breadcrumbs, scatter over the surface, then trickle with the olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes till the surface is crisp and golden.
Asparagus, samphire and radish
I pounce on the bunches of cime di rapa, also known as cima di rapa or broccoletti, when they turn up at my greengrocers, knowing that their season is even shorter than asparagus. The small broccoli-like florets and spiky leaves are particularly good raw or lightly steamed in a salad. This time, I tossed them into a spring salad with lightly pickled radishes.
I love this salad with its crunchy texture, and hot, peppery, sour and salty notes. The asparagus is lightly pickled alongside the radishes, then tossed with samphire and the mustardy greens. (Use broccoli if the cime di rapa proves elusive, which it probably will.)
Serves 4 as light main course
oranges 2
lemon juice 100ml
sherry vinegar 2 tbsp
radishes 400g
asparagus 300g
samphire 75g
cime di rapa a small bunch
Finely grate the zest from one of the oranges. Cut the oranges in half, then squeeze the juice into a mixing bowl. Add a half-teaspoon of sea salt flakes, then stir in the lemon juice and sherry vinegar.
Trim the radishes, removing their leaves and roots. Wash then cut each radish into four, and drop them into the dressing. Shave the asparagus into long, fine strips with a vegetable peeler then put them into the dressing and toss with the radishes. Set aside for two hours, turning the vegetables over every 20 minutes or so.
Put a pot of water on for the cime di rapa or broccoli. Salt the water as it comes to the boil then cook for 4 minutes until it is bright green and crisp. Drain and place on kitchen paper. Trim and wash the samphire then fold into the radishes and asparagus together with the cime di rapa. Pile onto plates and serve.
Root vegetable cider stew and thyme and parsley dumplings
A stew to cosset. Small root vegetables, ones that come in packs rather than sacks, are what you need for this. My suggestion of two teaspoons of mustard will leave the seasoning on the mild side. Stir in as much as you like. The dumplings are the real point of it all, especially the undersides, where the oaty pillows soak up the thyme and mustard sauce.
Serves 4-6
shallots 250g small
olive oil 2 tbsp
vegetable stock 1 litre
small root vegetables, carrots, parsnips, beetroot, swede 500g
plain flour 3 tbsp
dry cider 250-350ml
grain mustard 2 tsp
thyme 6 bushy sprigs
For the dumplings
plain flour 70g
fine oatmeal 70g
butter 80g
baking powder 1 tsp
parsley 4 tbsp, chopped
thyme leaves 1 tbsp, chopped
water 6-8 tbsp
Peel the shallots and halve them lengthways. Warm the olive oil in a shallow pan, add the shallots and let them soften and colour to a pale gold, turning them over from time to time. Put the stock in a saucepan and warm over a moderate heat.
Trim the root vegetables, peeling where necessary, then add them to the pan, letting them cook for 5-6 minutes and allowing them to colour lightly. Scatter the flour over the vegetables, and continue cooking for a couple of minutes, then pour in the cider and then the stock.
Stir in the grain mustard and the leaves from the thyme sprigs, season thoughtfully with salt and black pepper and continue to simmer, partially covered with a lid, for 20-25 minutes, adding a little more stock or cider as necessary, until you have a sauce of medium thickness.
To make the dumplings, put the flour and oatmeal in the bowl of a food processor, add the butter, a half-teaspoon of salt and the baking powder then process to fine crumbs. If you wish, you could rub the butter into the flour by hand. Add the parsley and thyme leaves. Introduce enough of the water to produce a soft but rollable dough. Shape into 8 balls, rolling them in lightly floured hands.
Lower the dumplings into the stew, cover tightly with a lid and leave to bubble away for 15 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked. Ladle into bowls and serve.
Purple sprouting broccoli, satay dip
When purple sprouting is in fine fettle, with firm stems and perfect, tight heads, I am happy to give it as much respect as asparagus. That is, served as a course by itself, the deep green spears laid out on a white plate for all to admire. We need something in which to dip them, melted butter spiked with lemon perhaps, or a hollandaise sauce into which you have a grated a little grated orange zest. A satay-style peanut sauce works too.
Serves 4 as side dish or part of a larger meal
purple sprouting broccoli 600g
lime juice of 1 small
crunchy peanut butter 150g
dark soy sauce 1 tsp
dried chilli flakes a pinch
hot red chilli 1 small
almost boiling water about 120ml
Bring a deep pan of water to the boil and salt it lightly. Trim the purple sprouting broccoli into florets. As soon as the water boils, lower in the broccoli.
Mix together the lime juice, peanut butter, soy sauce and chilli flakes. Finely slice the fresh chilli and add it to the dip together with enough of the water to make a sauce liquid enough to trickle over the shoots of broccoli. Drain the sprouting broccoli, lay the shoots on a serving dish and pour the satay sauce into a small dish or jug.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
