10 Spring Recipes Using Seasonal Ingredients

Melt the oil and butter in a large pan. Add the fennel and carrots, and stir over a gentle heat for about 5-6 minutes being careful not to burn.

Add the spring onion and cook until softened.

Pour in the white wine and reduce by half.

Add the vegetable stock and cook for a further 5 minutes on a low to moderate heat.

Add the asparagus and peas and cook for a further 5 minutes until tender.

Stir in the herbs and cream and season well with a squeeze of lemon juice, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cut the aubergines into 2cm-thick disks and cut in half again, so you have half-moons of aubergines, before placing into a large bowl with a sprinkle of salt and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Mix thoroughly.

Place the oiled aubergine slices carefully on to a baking sheet, lined with grease proof paper, and ensure each slice is not on top of each other but still fill the tray.

Place in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for 15 minutes, take out of the oven and turn over the aubergine slices and put back in the oven for a further 10 minutes. To check they are cooked, cut with sharp knife on the outside edge of the aubergine and if the knife goes through easily, then the aubergine is cooked.

In a hot, large saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sliced onion, celery and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat.

While the onions are cooking, prepare the peppers by cutting them in half lengthways and removing the stem and all the seeds. Then slice into rough 2cm pieces.

Add the peppers to the onions and add a generous pinch of salt to the pan. Place the lid on top tightly so the peppers start to steam.

After 10 minutes cooking, add the courgettes and cook without the lid for a further 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato passata and cook on a low heat for a further 10 minutes so the tomato passata has reduced by half.

Add the capers, pine nuts, torn basil and finally the roasted aubergines. Mix together well and leave on the stove to cook very gently for a further 5 minutes to combine. Remember to taste to check the seasoning.

Serve as a starter with some good bread and extra olive oil or as a main with some grilled lamb.

Blitz the roasted red pepper with coconut oil and walnuts in a food processor, season well and set aside.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less that the pack instructions and drain, reserving a ladleful of cooking water.

Tip the pasta back into the pan, along with the reserved cooking water and red pepper sauce, and return to the heat to warm through.

Tip the pasta into a bowl and top with the parmesan, chopped toasted walnuts and parsley.

Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Dissolve ¾ of the stock cube in a pan of boiling water then add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the broad beans and cook for 2 minutes followed by the peas for one further minute before draining and pouring into a bowl. Toss in the olive oil, and half the lemon then season to taste. Finally toss through the pea shoots.

Mix the remaining lemon juice with the remaining stock cube to form a paste then stir into the ricotta with the lemon zest and some black pepper.

Toast the bread then rub with the cut garlic on both sides. Spread the ricotta onto the toasts then divide the beans and peas between the slices and garnish with the dill to serve.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the gnocchi and cook according to the packet instructions.

Add half the broad beans to a food processor along with a handful of the herbs (reserving the remainder for adding later), the crème fraîche, lemon juice and a splash of the gnocchi cooking water. Blitz until smooth.

Drain the gnocchi and return it to the pan. Stir the broad bean sauce through, then add the remaining whole broad beans and herbs and season with salt and pepper.

Divide the gnocchi between 4 warmed bowls, and sprinkle the lemon zest and parmesan over the top.

First make the tartare sauce. Place the miso mayonnaise in a bowl and add the shallots, capers and gherkins. Mix them until well incorporated, then stir in the tarragon and chives. Refrigerate until needed.

Season the flesh side of the pollock fillets, and oil lightly. Grill, skin side up, under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Set aside and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes. Sauté the spinach in the butter until wilted.

Serve the pollock fillets with a large dollop of tartare sauce and with the potatoes and spinach alongside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar with ½ tsp of salt and 400ml of hand hot water (tepid water). Mix into a dough, tip the dough out onto the work surface and knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Return to the bowl, cover loosely with a tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the potatoes and simmer for 5-6 minutes until just soft. Add the asparagus for one minute, then drain and refresh in cold water. Beat the ricotta

Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C Fan/Gas Mark 7. Dust a couple of baking trays with a little flour. Divide the dough into 4 and roll out or hand stretch as thinly as you can.

Spread with the ricotta mixture, top with the potato slices, asparagus, mange tout and peas. Then scatter over both the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden and the base is crisp. Serve hot drizzled with extra olive oil and the pea shoots.

Plunge the spinach into the pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. The spinach wants to be cooked, not in any way al dente. Drain and allow to cool slightly.

Once the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out some of the excess liquid. Chop half the spinach relatively finely. Place the other half in a blender with 3-4 tablespoons of stock and blend to a purée. This may seem like a bit of a faff, but the result is a green risotto that still has some texture from the chopped spinach.

Heat your stock and keep at a murmuring simmer. Make sure you’re happy with the seasoning as this is what will season your risotto.

Melt three-quarters of the butter in a saucepan and then add the onion and celery. Sweat on a very low heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and thyme. Season with salt and pepper, and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes. It is important that nothing colours so keep the heat very low.

Add the rice, turn up the heat and stir well, allowing each grain to be coated in the buttery base. Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes until the rice becomes slightly translucent. Pour in the wine and keep stirring, until almost all the wine has boiled off.

Lower the heat and add a ladle of stock. Once the stock has nearly been absorbed, add another ladle. Continue like this for 15 minutes.

At this point taste the risotto and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if necessary. The rice should still be a little too al dente to eat but not far off from being ready.

Now add your puréed and chopped spinach and stir in, also add your chopped asparagus and kale leaves. The texture of the risotto should be like a loose porridge. Adjust with stock as necessary (you may not need to use all the stock). Cook for the final 2 minutes.

Add the remaining butter and almost all of parmesan and stir well together. Remove from the heat and allow to sit for 2 minutes, so that everything combines properly.

Spoon onto plates and sprinkle with parmesan.

Start by making the wild garlic pesto. Blend all the ingredients together until a smooth paste, add more oil if needed.

Now for the arancini mix. Bring the vegetable stock to the boil. Add the salt and sun-dried tomato paste, and combine well.

Add rice and salt. Turn to a low heat and occasionally stir to prevent rice from sticking.

After around 15 minutes and the rice is almost fully cooked, add the parmesan, burrata, wild garlic pesto and butter. The rice should have a thick consistency but not stodgy.

Now turn your rice mix on to a tray and chill.

Once the rice mix is chilled down, form 120g balls – you should have around six. Stuff each ball with 30g of taleggio and place onto a tray and chill for another 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the pane mix. Mix the 00 flour with the water to create the ‘pastela’ which should resemble a batter mix consistency. You need to pass each ball through the batter mix and then through the dry breadcrumbs.

Heat up the oil for frying to 180°C. Fry until golden brown or piping hot in the middle.