OROSIE BIRKETT

cooks with new season peas in four new dishes for a burst of early summer sweetness

Cook with seasonal peas,

Peas please me. They always have. As a child, I’d crouch beside my dad as he tended his veg patch, swiping handfuls of fresh pods that I’d pop open with a satisfying squeeze before emptying the little green balls into my greedy mouth like sweets. He’d be lucky if he got a panful after I’d had my fun, and would get fairly irritated by my pea bothering. Now, as an adult attempting to grow my own peas in the face of unpredictable weather (it hailed just as the first fragile tendrils were poking their way up around their sticks) and the unrelenting interest of persistent birds, I understand his chagrin. I’m a huge fan of frozen peas, too, and always have a bag in my freezer to break out for impromptu meals when I need a burst of sweetness and protein – and all of the recipes here will work with frozen, if the timings are slightly tweaked. But now is the time for fresh peas – and the fresher the better. If you grow your own you’ll already know this. As soon as they’re picked, it’s a race against time to eat them as their natural sugars start turning to starch and their sweetness wanes. When buying fresh, keep an eye out for bright, small, unbruised pods and try and get hold of some pea shoots too. If you grow your own, be sure to harvest the pretty flowers and curling shoots for gorgeous summer salads. Sweet and crunchy, with all the flavour of fresh peas, they work beautifully strewn across the pea & burrata salad on page 56 just before serving. Some supermarkets sell pea shoots now, so do give them a whirl if you haven’t before.

As well as working really nicely with bold, salty flavours – such as the feta in my chickpea salad (p56) – I love cooked peas paired with sugar snaps or mangetout. These pea varieties can be eaten shell and all, and bring a texture and freshness that you lose slightly when peas are cooked.

The pea & burrata salad is just gorgeous served as a summer sharing platter, the peas pairing with the salty depth of preserved lemon and mingling with the creamy burrata once people get stuck in. I like to serve it with thinly sliced, toasted baguette croutons for dipping and spooning the salad onto.

Peas and lovage are a wonderful combination that I first came across at the hands of London chef James Lowe at Lyle’s. He did a snack that combined them on toast and the way the slightly spicy, peppery lovage melded with the sweet, clean pea left a lasting impression. I’ve paired them together with the tang of buttermilk in a cool, fresh summer soup (p56).

As soon as they’re picked, it’s a race to eat them before the natural sugars turn to starch