Not a mafia orthodontist.

'Tis the season for fresh new broad beans and peas.

Unfortunately there's an awkward truth about these vegetables.  They are so easy to over-cook they're almost always a disappointment vs their frozen versions.  What comes out of the freezer bag sweet and tender seems to turn into bitter bullets when cooking their fresh relatives.

This recipe is an (almost) fool-proof way of avoiding that.  And if you can get it right, shows off these two ingredients perfectly.

Spring vegetable risotto

You will need:
500g fresh peas in their pods, podded
500g fresh broad beans in the pods, podded
Two shallots, peeled and finely diced
Two sticks of celery and one medium carrot, scrubbed and finely diced
One large clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
Half a cup (I think about 150g) of Arborio rice
A large glass (250ml) of white wine
500ml of vegetable stock, heated to simmering point
A bunch of flat leaf parsley, rinsed and coarsely chopped
50g of Pecorino cheese, grated
Olive oil for frying

Optionally, to finish, you will need:
A large knob (phnarr) of butter
One shallot, peeled and finely diced
One clove of garlic, grated
The zest and juice of one lemon
250ml of white wine

To make the risotto:

First pod the peas and broad beans, leave in a bowl, covered with water, at room temperature (this is v. important).

Gently fry the shallots, celery and carrot in the oil until sticky and translucent in a pan with a lid.  (That bit in bold, that's important that is).  Add the garlic and continue to gently fry until it softens and then add the rice.  Stir through until evenly coated with oil, turn up the heat to Fierce (girlfriend) and add the white wine.  Stir while the wine reduces and make sure everything off the bottom of the pan is incorporated.  Once the wine has nearly all gone, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and start adding the stock a ladle full at a time.  Keep stirring and once the stock is absorbed add another ladle full.  Keep going until the rice is al dente (not the name of a mafia orthodontist but meaning a little chewy but definitely not gritty or chalky).  Ideally you will have a slightly creamy consistency to the risotto at this point.

Now add the parsley and Pecorino cheese, stir through and then check the seasoning.  Don't check it before adding the Pecorino as it can be very salty and you might end up over-salting.  Once you're happy with the seasoning and the parsley has wilted nicely turn the heat up a little to a spirited simmer.

Yes, I know that's one of those infuriatingly vague terms.  If it helps it's mid-way between gentle simmer and Fierce (girlfriend).  That probably didn't help did it?

Drain the peas and beans thoroughly, stir through the risotto, cover with the lid and remove from the heat.  The residual heat in the dish should cook the peas and beans just right in a few minutes while you're making the finishing sauce.  If you're making it....

If you're making the finishing sauce:
Gently fry the shallot in the butter for 3-4-minutes.  Definitely no brown and crunchy bits please.  Grate the garlic into to the butter and stir through.

If you thought you'd buy ready-grated garlic for this bit and save yourself a bit of effort congratulations.  You've saved yourself a bit of effort but you're barred from reading this blog. I mean it.  Go now before it gets ugly.

Add the lemon zest, juice and the white wine and simmer until the volume has reduced to one third of its original.

When you're ready to serve, check the warmth of the risotto and gently warm through if necessary. Please don't let it start bubbling or you'll over-cook the peas and beans and you've just gone to a lot of effort to avoid that.  If you made it, drizzle a tablespoon of the sauce over the rice once served.

This goes beautifully with simply cooked white fish.

Not the chicken.

While my buttermilk fried chicken recipe remains a closely guarded secret, I am happy to share this salad that goes brilliantly with it.  Somewhere between a salsa and a potato salad it's almost good enough to be a main dish in itself.

Corn and potato salad

For a family-sized bowl you will need:

500g of new potatoes, scrubbed but with their skins left on
One large red pepper - the ripest you can find
Two ears of sweetcorn, scrubbed and any stringy bits removed
Half a red onion, peeled.
Olive oil - the good stuff with flavour
Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar or pomegranate molasses

Steam the potatoes until they're tender, allow to cool and then refrigerate until cold.
Strip the kernels from the sweetcorn.  I hold them on end in a shallow bowl and then run a sharp knife down.  The bowl should stop you having to chase the little buggers all over the place.
Finely dice the red onion and red pepper (after removing the seeds and stalk).
Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces and then dress liberally with the olive oil.  This will help stop them sticking together.  Add the corn, pepper and onion and some more oil if you fancy it.

My favourite way to finish this is with some pomegranate molasses.  Just the right combination of sweet and sour.  Balsamic vinegar or lemon juice will also do.

Not just a pan full of rice and green bits

The English asparagus season is just around the corner.  If you like it as much as I do then you're probably in danger of running out of things to do with it before the season comes to an end.  Luckily where I live it's really easy to get hold of fresh Cromer crabs.  And there's almost no better pairing than crab and asparagus.  Like in this:

Crab and asparagus risotto

One small sermon before I begin:  Food-bores like me are always twatting on about how it's the quality of the ingredients that matters the most.  This is always true, to a certain degree, but in this dish it's absolutely paramount.  It's designed to show off two flavours and not mask them with anything else.  So if you can't get fresh, flavoursome asparagus and crab this isn't one to try.  You'll just end up with a pan full of rice and green bits.

And if you're even thinking of attempting this with tinned crab meat please un-follow this blog now.

For four people you will need:

One bunch of asparagus (about 200g I think but if you're buying it fresh then it'll be in bunches), scrubbed
One fresh, dressed crab.
Two shallots, peeled and diced
One medium carrot and two sticks of celery, scrubbed and diced
One glass of dry white wine
Two cloves of garlic, peeled, flattened with a blade and chopped
150g of Arborio or Carnaroli rice
500ml of light stock (vegetable, fish or chicken in that order)
Zest and juice of one lemon
One small bunch of flat leaf parsley, rinsed and chopped
One tablespoon of creme fraiche
Olive oil for frying
Chilli oil and lemon wedges to serve

Remove the crab meat from the shell and set aside.  Put the shell in a saucepan with the stock, cover and bring to a gentle simmer.

Put olive oil, the shallots, carrot and celery into a pan large enough to take all the ingredients and fry gently.

While the veg are frying, dry off the asparagus and dress with some olive oil - just enough to lightly coat the spears.  Bring a frying pan or (ideally) griddle to smoking heat and then toss the asparagus in small batches in the pan.  You're aiming to get small spots of colour on the asparagus - not cook it.  They should come out slightly coloured but still springy and crunchy.  If they go limp they either weren't fresh or you've over cooked them: abandon the whole thing, storm out of the kitchen and think carefully about what you've done.

Once all the asparagus spears have had their treatment, set aside to cool.

Once the shallots and celery are translucent and sticky add the garlic.  Fry gently for a couple of minutes and then add the rice.  Stir it through, making sure each grain is liberally coated, then whack the heat up to full and pour in the glass of wine.  Keep stirring until the wine has evapourated, the hiss of steam has turned back into the snap and sizzle of frying, and then reduce the heat back to gentle simmer and add a ladle full of the hot stock.  

Once everything's bubbling gently and there are no sticky bits left on the bottom of the pan stir in the crab meat, the lemon zest and juice.  If you have any nice big lumps of white meat try not to break them up too much - they add some texture to the finished article.  Keep adding stock and stirring gently until the rice is cooked through.  You're looking for a firm texture with a soft outside.  Chewy's OK, gritty isn't cooked properly.  Stir through the parsley, and cook for another minute.  Finally, when you're happy with the texture chop the asparagus into bite sized pieces and stir in together with the creme fraiche.  Cover and let the whole thing warm through before serving.

I like to dress with a little chilli oil and squeeze of lemon juice.