A comforting spring vegetable broth

This is a great way of eating spring veggies at their very best; cooking for the minimum time possible to retain their sweetness and gentle crunch. Tiny mint and basil leaves along with chopped fennel tops enhance the flavour, although dill could work equally well, (but mine hasn't grown yet). The white wine brings a lovely freshness. You could use chicken stock as well if you're not veggie.


I think a lot of people wouldn't try cooking lettuce, but actually it's a fantastic way to use little gem or other romaine lettuces, which can sometimes be a bit bitter, because the compact heart means it'll keep its shape well. Everything needs to be sliced up super small and cooked for very little time, as it'll carry on in the bowl when you're eating it.It'd also work with any other spring veg you've got - perhaps beans, baby carrots or asparagus. It's a nice way of cooking spring veg as a side dish too (although a shame to waste the tasty broth) - perhaps serve with fish if you're that way inclined?

This would work really well as a starter as it's wonderfully light, but works equally well as a tasty lunch with some day old bread to mop up the juice.

Chopped with 2 peas soup (broccoli!)

When me and my sister were much younger, we used to go and stay with our mum's cousin and his wife for weekends, where we'd spend time cooking and crafting. The name of this soup came about when my sister was writing out the recipe - she was clearly a bit better at spelling than my auntie thought a primary school child should be - part of the recipe was 'broccoli chopped (with two p's)' which she wrote as 'chopped with 2 peas' and it's forever been known as that. Unfortunately that draft of the recipe had to be re-written and didn't make it home, but here's the re-written version. I made it tonight with cheddar rather than red lesiter (!) and it was just as yummy as I remembered.

Silky celeriac soup

Courtesy of my mum. A wonderfully silky textured, nutty and deep flavoured soup, with a nice freshness from the lemon – a delight to return home to after a hard day at work! I would really urge you to try celeriac – although it looks ugly it’s delicious, and in a soup the flavour is really mellow and warming. This served four with extra for two more for lunch.

The remaining ¾ of the large celeriac
2 potatoes
1 small onion
veg stock (cook the veg in about a litre-ish or enough to cover and add more if needed)
splash of milk (maybe a couple of tablespoons – all to taste)
squeeze of lemon juice (same as above – start with about a tablespoon and add more if you like)

Finely chop the onion and sweat this in olive oil for about 10 mins in a pan. Add the cubed potatoes and celeriac and stir for a couple of mins. Then add the stock, and simmer for about 20 mins or until the veg is soft. Puree in a liquidiser or with a hand blender until really smooth. Add a splash of milk for extra creaminess, and a little squeeze of lemon juice to taste. You can also add more stock if you prefer the soup thinner. Serve with crusty bread and plenty of pepper sprinkled on top.