Spring is arguably the most exciting time for a chef or cook. The long winter has ended, and as the days grow longer, the list of ingredients expands: peas, broad beans, wild garlic, spring lamb. Nature's bounty comes together in wonderful, natural, and understated ways.
Lamb Shoulder Cooked in Buttermilk with Peas, Broad Beans and Wild Garlic
Prep 15 min | Chill overnight | Cook 3 hr 50 min | Serves 6
- 1 lamb shoulder (2.2-2.5 kg), on the bone
- 500 ml buttermilk
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 whole head garlic, cloves separated and smashed, but unpeeled
- 50 g chopped rosemary
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 150 g podded peas
- 150 g podded broad beans
- 80 g wild garlic leaves
Score the lamb all over in a crisscross fashion. In a bowl, mix the buttermilk with the lemon zest, smashed garlic cloves, and chopped rosemary. Smother the lamb with the mixture, then cover loosely and chill in the fridge overnight.
The next day, heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan)/350°F/gas 4. Put the marinated lamb shoulder in a roasting tray, ensuring all the marinade goes in with it. Pour 200 ml chicken stock into the tray, cover with foil, and roast for three hours, basting every hour. Turn up the oven to 195°C (185°C fan)/385°F/gas 5½, remove the foil, and roast for another 30 minutes, until the meat is tender and the skin crisps up. Lift the lamb out of the tin and leave to rest while you prepare the vegetables.
Drop the peas and broad beans into the roasting tray, and bring to a boil; add a little more stock if required. Once boiling, add the wild garlic leaves, cook for two minutes, then take off the heat.
To serve, shred the lamb, arrange it on a platter, and spoon over the sauce with all the gubbins from the tray. Serve with boiled potatoes and a green salad.
Caponata (Sicilian Aubergine Stew)
Prep 20 min | Cook 20 min | Serves 6
- 400 ml oil
- 50 g pine nuts
- 2 white onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 whole garlic heads, cloves separated, peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 celery sticks, peeled, blanched and thinly sliced
- 500 g jarred grilled peppers, chopped
- 25 g black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
- 100 g datterini tomatoes, quartered
- 4 aubergines, trimmed and each cut into 8 even pieces
- 30 g golden sultanas
- 50 g fresh basil
- 50 g fresh mint
- 25 ml red-wine vinegar
Gently heat 150 ml oil in a pan with the pine nuts. As soon as you see a change in colour, lift out the nuts with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Next, sweat the onions and sliced garlic in the pine nut oil for as long as possible before they change colour, then drop in the celery, peppers, olives and tomatoes. Take off the heat and cover with a lid.
In a deep-sided pan on a medium heat, fry the aubergines in 250 ml oil for about four or five minutes, until golden all over. Stir the aubergines into the onion mix, add the pine nuts, sultanas, chopped herbs and plenty of salt and vinegar, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Vignarola (Roman Spring Vegetable Stew)
Prep 25 min | Cook 30 min | Serves 4-6
- Olive oil
- 600 g peas, podded and shells reserved
- 2 lemons, the peel of 1 pared off in 1 cm-wide stripes, the other zested
- 50 g bunch mint, leaves picked and stalks reserved
- 50 g bunch basil, leaves picked and stalks reserved
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 1 whole garlic head, cloves separated, peeled and thinly sliced, plus 1 halved clove extra, for rubbing on the toasts
- 6 fresh artichokes, peeled and turned, then quartered and the chokes removed
- 1 tsp dried chilli
- 500 g rainbow chard, leaves torn from the stalk, stalks finely chopped
- 800 g broad beans, podded
- 10 g flat-leaf parsley
- Sliced bread, toasted, to serve
- Pecorino, grated, to serve
Put a litre of water in a medium pan, add a good glug of olive oil, the empty pea pods, the lemon peel, and the mint and basil stalks, season well, then bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a pan, sweat the garlic in 50 ml oil for as long as possible before it turns golden. Add the artichoke quarters and dried chilli, and cook, stirring, for five minutes. When they start to break down, add the chopped chard stalks, followed soon after by the peas, broad beans and chard leaves.
Strain the stock through a sieve, then pour it over the vegetables, just to cover them. Add another glug of olive oil, then leave to cook for eight to 10 minutes, until everything is soft and tender. Finish with the parsley, basil and mint leaves, plus some lemon zest.
To serve, put a piece of toast in the bottom of four shallow bowls, rub them all over with the extra garlic, then ladle the vignarola over the top. Finish with lashings of pecorino.
Conor Gadd is chef/owner of Burro and chef/co-owner of Trullo, both in London.
