The green light: Nigel Slater’s recipes for the first shoots of spring

Photographs by Jonathan Lovekin

There is so much happening. The appearance of finger-thick spring carrots and their feathery leaves; early and surprisingly sweet-sour tomatoes; pink radishes, plump and crisp with tufts of green leaves and snow-white tips. There are tight heads of bitter leaves, bunches of emerald watercress and still with us are blood oranges and sweet, leafy lemons.

After what seemed like a never-ending winter, lighter dishes are once more the order of the day. A savoury cheese pudding with early spring herbs and a verdant soup of beans and peas made their way on to the table this week, as did the first of the asparagus: this time as a puff-pastry tart with hollandaise sauce and a pesto made from carrot tops – the very essence of spring.

The rhubarb has been exceptional this spring and has turned up in a cake (with a crumble topping) and a batch of puff pastry turnovers. This week, I cooked a few stalks with some sugar, then ate them with toasted brioche and custard. A deconstructed trifle of sorts and a sign that the new season has well and truly arrived.

Verdant with peas, broad beans and chopped parsley, this is the first mixed vegetable soup of the year. In summer, I will add tomatoes or courgettes, and in autumn, cubes of orange-fleshed squash and a handful of dried beans. For now, the soup is light, fresh and green, a light main course that I serve with slices of crisp toast, their surface mottled with melted parmesan.

If you wish, remove the skins from the cooked broad beans by squeezing them between thumb and forefinger. The inner green bean will pop out and you can discard the papery outer skin. This is usually only necessary if your beans are less than young, although I tend to do it to all but the very tiniest of beans.

Serves 4

leeks 200g

olive oil 2 tbsp

broad beans 350g (podded weight)

spring carrots 150g

asparagus 250g

flageolet beans 2 x 200g tins

vegetable stock 1 litre

peas 200g, fresh or frozen (podded weight)

tarragon leaves 2 tbsp, chopped

parsley 10g

To finish

baguette 8 thin slices

olive oil a little

parmesan 2 tbsp, grated

• Directions

Slice the leeks into thick rounds roughly the width of a pencil, then wash them thoroughly (sand and grit can get trapped between the layers). Put them into a deep saucepan with the olive oil. Place a piece of greaseproof paper over them and cover the pan with a lid. The paper will encourage the leeks to steam rather than brown.

Have a bowl of iced water to hand. Bring a medium-sized pan of water to the boil and salt it lightly. When the water is boiling, drop in the broad beans, then let them cook for about 5 minutes till tender, then remove them with a draining spoon or spider and drop them into the iced water.

Scrub and finely slice the carrots into rounds, then cook them in boiling water for 6-8 minutes. Lift them out and add to the beans. Cut the asparagus into short lengths and cook them for 4 minutes till bright and still firm. Drain and mix with the beans and carrots.

Drain the vegetables and stir them into the softened leeks, discarding the paper. Stir the flageolet beans, minus the tin liquor, into the vegetables together with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and add the peas and the tarragon. Remove the leaves from the parsley, roughly chop and stir in. Season with salt and black pepper and leave to simmer for about 15 minutes.

Toast the slices of baguette under a hot grill till pale gold. Sprinkle each with a little oil, then evenly scatter some grated parmesan over each. Return to the grill until the cheese has melted and is turning gold.

Ladle the soup into bowls, having checked the seasoning, then float the parmesan toasts on top.

A golden, herb-scented cheese pudding. More substantial than a souffle, this is something to serve as part of a light lunch, perhaps with a salad of watercress and lettuce hearts and a mustard-rich dressing, or thickly sliced tomatoes glistening with olive oil and ribbons of shredded basil. I sometimes put a sprig of woody herbs on top, thyme, oregano or rosemary, to flatter its herb-freckled dome.

Serves 3

butter a little for the dish

parmesan 80g, finely grated

ricotta 500g

eggs 2

tarragon sprigs 10g

parsley sprigs 10g

chives 10g

• Directions

You will need a deepish baking dish about 20cm x 16cm.

Lightly butter the dish, then sprinkle a little of the grated parmesan (no more than a couple of tablespoons) over the base and sides. It will prevent the pudding sticking and help to firm a golden crust around the edge. Heat the oven to 180C fan/gas mark 6.

Put the ricotta in a mixing bowl. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a clean, dry bowl and the yolks into the ricotta.

Pull the leaves from the tarragon and parsley sprigs, chop them finely and add them to the ricotta and egg yolks. Finely chop the chives, then stir them into the ricotta with a generous seasoning of salt and ground black pepper and all but a tablespoon of the parmesan. Make sure all is well mixed.

Using a balloon whisk, beat the egg whites till soft and fluffy (they don’t need to be stiff enough to stand in peaks), then, with a large metal spoon, gently fold them into the cheese mixture. Work quickly, but tenderly – you don’t want to knock the air out of the beaten egg whites. Transfer to the prepared dish.

Sprinkle the reserved parmesan over the surface then bake for 35 minutes until risen, the surface tinged with gold. The pudding should quiver when the dish is shaken gently.

A simple tart to celebrate the first asparagus. I use frozen puff pastry for this. If you don’t enjoy making hollandaise sauce, it is easy enough to buy ready made, but it is never as deliciously buttery as your own. The trick to avoiding the sauce separating is to introduce the melted butter to the eggs slowly and to make sure the sauce never gets too hot.

Serves 4-5

puff pastry 1 x sheet (320g)

olive oil a little

asparagus 12 spears

For the pesto

carrot leaves and stems 50g

garlic 1 small clove

pine nuts 50g

basil leaves and stems 40g

olive oil 150m

For the hollandaise

egg yolks 2

dijon mustard ½ tsp

lemon juice 2 tsp

butter 100g, melted

• Directions

Heat the oven to 210C fan/gas mark 8. Place a piece of greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. Unroll the pastry, roll out to a rectangle roughly 35cm x 23cm and place it on the paper. Lay a second sheet of paper on top, then weigh it down with another baking sheet.

Bake the pastry for 20 minutes, then carefully remove the top baking sheet and the top piece of paper. Brush the pastry with olive oil and return it to the oven for 5 minutes until golden. You should have one crisp, deep gold sheet of pastry. Carefully slide the pastry on to a cooling rack.

To make the pesto, put the carrot leaves in a food processor or blender, peel and add the garlic, pine nuts and basil, add salt, then process to a coarse paste, adding enough oil as the blades turn to produce a spreadable consistency.

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Cut each spear of asparagus into three. Salt the water generously, then cook the asparagus until it just starts to bend – about 7 minutes for an average sized spear. Lift them from the water and drain on kitchen paper.

To make the hollandaise sauce, rest a heatproof china or glass mixing bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. The base of the bowl should not touch the water. Put the egg yolks into the bowl and whisk in the mustard and lemon juice. Slowly introduce the butter while constantly whisking. Start by adding just a few drops of butter, then gradually introduce the full amount, making sure to whisk it all in as you add more.

Should it start to separate, then add a few drops of boiling water and whisk hard. The sauce should correct itself.

Remove the sauce from the heat. Cut the pastry into 9 rectangles. Spread each piece generously with the pesto, then place about six pieces of asparagus on top. Spoon over the hollandaise and serve.

A simple salad of spring leaves. If you can find puntarelle, the loose leafed form of chicory with crisp, tight buds hidden between its long, jagged edged leaves, then this, with the light citrus dressing, is the perfect place to use it.

Serves 3

spinach leaves 200g

watercress 25g

beef tomatoes 2

radishes 9

puntarelle 1 small head, or 1 large head of treviso

parsley 8 sprigs

sprouted seeds 25g

pea shoots to garnish

For the dressing

dijon mustard 2 tsp

clear honey 1 generous tsp

orange juice 2 tbsp

lemon juice 1 tbsp

white wine vinegar 2 tsp

olive oil 100ml

• Directions

Make the dressing: put the mustard, honey, and orange and lemon juices into a small mixing bowl or jam jar. Season with salt and black pepper. Pour in the vinegar and olive oil and mix well, either with a whisk or by shaking the jar, and set aside.

Wash the spinach and remove the stems, then do the same with the watercress. Shake them dry or give them a few seconds in a salad spinner (spinach tends to hold water in the folds of its leaves). Put the leaves into a large mixing bowl.

Slice the tomatoes into quarters and then into thick slices, and add to the leaves. Trim and wash the radishes, then slice them thinly.

If you are using puntarelle, use the thick white stems and the chubby shoots within – they are the best bit. Wash, dry and add to the leaves. If you are using treviso, break off the leaves and wash and dry them, then add to the bowl of leaves.

Toss the leaves, tomatoes and radishes with the dressing. Pull the leaves from the parsley stalks, leaving them whole if they are small, then add them to the salad together with the sprouted seeds. Lift on to a large serving plate or salad bowl.

The quickest of spring puddings – the classic marriage of rhubarb and custard served with toasted brioche, or if you wish, panettone. Push the brioche under the custard with your spoon as you eat so it partly soaks up the sauce. You can of course make your own custard, but this is a quick pudding and a carton of ready-made Madagascan vanilla custard is what this cook would reach for.

Serves 2

rhubarb 250g (about 2 sticks)

caster sugar 3 tbsp

water 90ml

brioche or panettone 2 thick slices (about 40g per person)

icing sugar 1 tbsp

custard 250ml

• Directions

Cut the rhubarb into 4cm lengths, discarding any leaves and the white base of their stalks. Put the rhubarb in a single layer in a shallow pan over a moderate heat. Sprinkle with the sugar and pour in the water, bring to the boil then lower the heat and cook until the rhubarb is soft, roughly 5-7 minutes. If the rhubarb stays firm on top, then turn each piece with a palette knife and continue cooking for a minute or two.

Dust the brioche or panettone with icing sugar and warm under a hot, overhead grill until golden. Cut each slice into small pieces. Pour the custard into shallow bowls, scatter the brioche between them, then place a mound of the cooked rhubarb on each. Dust lightly with more icing sugar.

@NigelSlater