Love and peas

I would tug off pods and prize open the slender pouch on the spot. Revealing the row of precisely lined-up peas within is one of nature's delights. I would tip them into my mouth right there, fresh, grassy, raw, and it's something I still love. I would even crunch a few times on the empty pods before discarding them: those pods release such sweet juice when really fresh. I still use them now as a pea stock base for soup, boiling them rapidly with water and shallots for 10 minutes before straining. It gives a wonderfully flavoursome base.

Peas are the one vegetable which most people will eat, from any age. I wonder if the sweetness of shape, as well as flavour, plays a part? Maybe it is their versatility. They can stand alone, once boiled, needing only a melting spoonful of velvety butter to coat them. Equally, they are happy to cosy up to bold, especially salty, flavours. Bacon or parmesan are classic pairings; in Japan, wasabi may be used to spike cooked peas. Similarly, we swirl horseradish into peas to accompany beef. Best of all, try rolling a handful of raw peas into the stock of a casserole for the last 10 minutes of cooking, allowing the peas' surprising savouriness to mingle with the juices, an intense and alluring exchange.

Cod fillet with braised lettuce, peas, mint and feta

Recipe serves four (1kg of peas in the pod will yield about 300g podded peas)

4 pieces of cod fillet, skinned and trimmed, weighing 140g each

300g podded peas

150g podded broad beans, blanched for one minute and popped out of the grey outer husk

100g feta cheese diced into 1cm pieces or crumbled if you prefer

2 large heads or 3-4 smaller heads of little gem lettuce

50g butter

olive oil

1 rounded teaspoon each of chopped mint and tarragon

150ml chicken or vegetable stock

Method

1. Cover a baking tray with a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit snugly. Drizzle olive oil on the tray then arrange the pieces of cod, spreading them out across the width of the tray. Drizzle a little more olive oil on each piece then refrigerate.

2. Cut the heads of gem lettuce in quarters lengthways and trim away the root so the head should fall apart into individual leaves. Shred the leaves finely and set aside.

3. Pre-heat the oven to 200c/gas mark 6. Place the cod in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan large enough to hold the remaining ingredients. Add the peas and broad beans and sweat gently for 2 minutes then add the stock and bring to a simmer. Add half the feta cheese and simmer until it melts. Check how the cod is cooking.

5. To check the cod, remove from the oven quickly. Shut the oven door and insert a wooden cocktail stick into the centre of the flesh, hold it there for three seconds then try to pull it out. If it comes out easily with no resistance or tugging then the fish is cooked; if the flesh of the cod is still underdone and not ready it will tug at the stick, offering slight resistance as you try to pull it out. Return the cod to the oven if necessary for a few more minutes. If it is done, loosely cover the tray of fish with tin foil while finishing the rest of the garnish.

6. To the pan of peas, add the shredded gem leaves and wilt over a high heat for a minute. Add the chopped herbs. Taste for seasoning and adjust.

7. Arrange the mixture of peas and lettuce as a bed, dividing it between four serving dishes. Scatter the rest of the feta over the leaves then place the cod on top. Spoon any remaining pan juices from the peas and lettuce over the fish and around then serve at once.

Chilled pea and tarragon soup with warm pea fritters

Recipe serves four

For the fritters

250g fresh or frozen (but defrosted) peas

1 small egg

1 tbsp plain flour

A dash of olive oil

A teaspoon of chopped tarragon leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

For the soup

2 shallots, sliced

500g fresh or frozen peas

2 tbsp dry white wine

400-500ml vegetable stock

2 bushy sprigs of tarragon

85g spinach leaves

200ml low-fat crème fraîche or natural yogurt

Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, to serve

1. For the fritters: place all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse to make a thick coarse paste. Set aside and chill.

2. For the soup: Heat the oil in a saucepan and sweat the shallots over a low heat for about five minutes, until softened but not coloured. Add the peas and tarragon and cook for a further two minutes.

3. Pour in the wine and cook until it has bubbled away. Then pour in enough stock to cover the peas, bring to the boil and boil rapidly for two minutes. Throw in the spinach leaves and stir until they have wilted, this will take only a moment.

4. Transfer the contents of the pan to a food processor or liquidiser and blend until smooth. Pass it through a sieve into a bowl, rubbing it through with the back of a ladle to extract the maximum liquid. Leave to cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled.

5. When the soup is thoroughly chilled, whisk in all but four tablespoons of the crème fraîche, taste and adjust the seasoning.

6. To serve: cook the fritters first; to do this, heat a pan with about 2cm of vegetable oil then with two dessertspoons, make quenelle shapes of the fritter mixture: think of scoops made with the spoons so each is roughly shaped like a small egg, then lower each onto the hot oil to fry, turning them as they cook, so they become golden on each of the three faces. You can either make two smaller pieces per person or one larger piece per person. Once golden, remove with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper towel and season with sea salt.

7. Meanwhile, use this time to divide the soup between four chilled bowls. Add a dollop of the remaining crème fraiche to each and add one or two pea fritters as well, drizzle with a little olive oil if you wish then serve at once.