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Its summer .... in a pan

Ah! the British Summer! Lazing in the garden till 8.00 at night reading the paper on Monday, fighting the cold and rain for the Tuesday commute. I suppose we should be grateful that we reversed the usual order of things and the bank holiday was nice and the return to work was grim.

I made this recipe from Lucy Boyd on the Friday evening when the holiday weekend was ahead and the weather was lovely. It appealed to me because everything could be seasonal and everything could be British. Sadly Waitrose couldn't supply me the fresh peas but I made do with Duchy organic frozen ones.
This is a really nice one pot vegetable dish. We had it with some Sea Bream fillets that I just brushed with olive oil and seasoned and then cooked quickly in a high temp oven (220c) for 10 - 12 mins.

One tip on the vegetable recipe. Don't be tempted to change the quantities. I normally never do this when I am doing a new recipe but I used more potatoes and less asparagus ... mistake! not fatal but I think it would have been nicer if I hadn't. I also think that if you have a non stick pan with a lid that would be the best cooking receptacle. I used one of my other pans and the potatoes stuck a bit.
However the taste is very summery and light and would be a great foil to chicken as well. 

Now for the recipe

Asparagus and Peas braised with Yellow Waxy Potatoes, Basil and Mint
Ingredients
500g peas in the pod, or 275g frozen peas
1 bundle of fresh green asparagus, about 350g, tough ends snapped off, washed
Olive oil
250g yellow waxy potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces, about 1cm in size
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 small dried bird’s eye chilli, crushed (optional)
a few leaves of fresh garden mint, washed, dried and chopped
a few basil leaves, roughly torn
sea salt and black pepper
Method
Pod the peas and put in a bowl. Slice the asparagus at a sharp angle, 1cm thick. Heat a good glug of olive oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat and add the potatoes. When they start to soften about 8-10 minute, add the garlic, dried chilli asparagus and peas (if using frozen peas add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking). Season with a little salt and pepper and stir, tossing the ingredients together in the oil for a few minutes, then add about 100ml of boiling water or just enough to come about 1cm up the pan. Put a lid on and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until everything is tender, then remove the lid and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Check the seasoning and add the herbs just before serving.


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