Real Italian tasting courgette pasta (with flowers)

A couple of years ago, my sister did a stint in Italy teaching English. She stayed with a host family, and ate some absolutely bloody fantastic food by all accounts. In particular, she described courgette pasta with flowers and some kind of cheese which apparently was delightful. So ever since I've started to grow my own, I've wanted to replicate the mystery dish...and the other night, I cracked it.

Courgettes sliced wafer thin and cooked with a tiny bit of garlic for barely a minute, their flowers stuffed with homemade herb and lemon ricotta - it's an impressive dish and something I think you could serve up proudly at a dinner party. It's actually incredibly easy to make once you've finished with all the faffing. And yum yum yummy.

PS I urge you to try the homemade ricotta if you haven't before - so easy!

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.

Asparagus, pea and crunchy seed salad with a minty dressing

This is so easy to make, super quick, fresh and delicious. It's a mountain of green; the flavours go together really well, and I think show off the asparagus to its very best. Now technically, you should use fresh peas, but it's still a bit early for those, so I used frozen (slap me on the wrist but it was still tasty!). I'm not sure whether the seasons for asparagus and peas cross over at all as the former is only around for such a short time, but perhaps you can get fresh peas at this time of year somewhere!?

I think the chilli is really great with this, but then again I tend to put chilli in most things. Chilli rapeseed oil was especially good for a bit of bite. Do take that extra 2 minutes it takes to roast and salt the pumpkin seeds - it makes all the difference!

Wet garlic, herb and lemon omelette

I was given a very large tray of the freshest, organicest, free-rangest eggs you can imagine at the weekend, from hens that roam around an overgrown field all day, much to their delight. They make the yellowest eggs I've ever seen, so naturally, I wanted to do them justice. This did just that - simple enough to enhance the eggs yet with enough flavour to excite the palate.

I have two omelette tips (and you've probably heard them before) - firstly, get yourself a great pan. It makes all the difference. A smaller pan is easier and makes a thicker omelette, which means you get more foldy juiciness and less pancake-yness. The second is add a bit of water to the egg once you've beaten it to make it light as a feather - never fails.

Wet garlic works really well in this and it was in my box this week, but if you can't get it, normal dried (bulb) garlic is fine - it's just got a fresher flavour.