LITMIR.BIZ

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grill or griddle. Blanch the peas in boiling water with the mint for a couple of minutes or until the water returns to the boil. Drain, then season with salt and pepper and a little chilli.

      Grill the sourdough on both sides, then sweep the remaining garlic clove lightly over one side of each slice. Place a slice on each plate and spoon the broad bean mixture onto the bruschetta, keeping it light and lively.

      Break the eggs into the simmering water and poach until the egg white is no longer clear and has solidified. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to kitchen paper and dab away any excess water. Place an egg on each bruschetta, tear the rocket leaves in half and place on top, then scatter the peas over.

      PENNE WITH BRAISED ARTICHOKES AND PANCETTA

      I will often have no idea what to cook for supper and no desire to shop at the supermarket. It is when I am feeling like this that I make a visit to my favourite greengrocers, on Turnham Green Terrace in Chiswick, London. Andrew, the owner, sources an incredible range of seasonal fruit and veg from English growers as well as from the Italian and French markets.

      As I stand in his shop I will make a decision about what to cook for supper; in the summer it might be Scottish girolles (which will have just arrived from Scotland), fried in garlic with lemon and parsley with a poached egg on toast, or a fresh pasta sauce made with small and sweet ‘Datterini’ tomatoes. In the spring I’ll find a basket overflowing with the first of the season’s broad beans from Italy next to a pile of young artichokes displayed in bunches tied with string, the green buds blushed purple and sold with the leaves still attached to their stems.

      It was the bundles of artichokes that caught my attention this spring. I knew I had a piece of pancetta in the fridge and the mint had started to shoot in the garden. The decision was made – a delicious artichoke pasta for supper and no need for any further shopping.

      FOR 4

      12 medium-sized artichokes (‘Violetto’ are perfect for this recipe)

      500g penne rigate

      olive oil

      150g pancetta cubes, or smoky bacon rashers cut into mm slices

      3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

      a few leaves of fresh mint and basil, washed, dried and roughly chopped

      184ml double cream or crème fraîche

      40–50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

      sea salt and black pepper

      Put two large pans of water on to boil, each with a generous pinch of salt.

      To prepare the artichokes, cut the end of the stem off, leaving 1cm still attached to the bud. Pull away the tough outer leaves until you reach the tender yellow ones. Peel the stalk and trim round the base of the heart. Slice off the top of the leaves just above the heart. Cut each artichoke in half and, if necessary, remove the choke, then cut lengthways through the stem into slices about 1cm thick. Drop the slices into one pan of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes until tender. Check the heart is cooked through by piercing up through the stem, there should be no resistance. Drain in a colander under cold running water to cool them off, then dab dry with kitchen paper.

      Pour the pasta into the other pan of boiling water and cook until al dente (with a little bite) – about 10 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce.

      Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan, add the pancetta or bacon and cook until it is on the point of colouring. Add the garlic and toss it with the pancetta for a few minutes. Just before it starts to brown add the artichokes, mint and basil and simmer on a low heat for a minute or two, then add the cream or crème fraîche and season with salt and pepper.

      When the pasta is ready, drain through a colander set over a bowl, then put back in the pan with a little of the water it was cooked in (1 tablespoon or so) and pour a little olive oil over it. Season well with salt and pepper. I use tongs to add the pasta to the sauce in the pan so that I can control how much pasta to add for the quantity of sauce, rather than chucking all the pasta in at once. Toss everything together and serve immediately with freshly grated Parmesan.

      LAMB CUTLETS SCOTTADITO

      Lamb cutlets beaten a little with a meat tenderiser are grilled briefly so that the flesh is juicy and pink and you can eat them with your hands (in Italian scottadito means ‘burned fingers’). This recipe reminds me of Rose, as I can picture her gently beating the chops for a Valentine meal of pink food. The starter was langoustines poached whole with a red chilli sauce.

      FOR 4

      12 best-end lamb cutlets (about 3 per person or 4 if they are very small), un-chined, fat removed from the bones

      1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

      2 lemons, cut into quarters

      salt and black pepper

      Place the lamb cutlets on a board and cover with a piece of greaseproof paper. Using a meat tenderiser mallet or the rounded end of a rolling pin, gently beat the lamb out until it is half its original thickness.

      Heat the griddle pan until smoking hot. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper, then place on the smoking-hot grill for 1–2 minutes on each side, pressing them down as they cook. Drizzle with the extra-virgin olive oil, then serve straight away with lemon quarters.

      This is delicious with a simple tomato salad in the summer or grilled radicchio in winter with some borlotti beans.

      AN EARLY SPRING SALAD OF SEA KALE WITH VIOLA FLOWERS, ORANGE, PURSLANE AND MAYONNAISE

      At this time of year, early spring bulbs have started to flower, along with the sweetly scented winter shrubs. Daphnes, viburnums and winter honeysuckle have a particularly intense smell. The beautiful copper-coloured limbs of the Magnolia × soulangeana are bearing buds waiting to open with the first flush of sunshine, but the herbs are still patchy, a little too early for flowering thyme and rosemary.

      Heartsease viola flowers in March and is hardy to a point at a time of year when many of the flowering edible plants have not yet come out. Adding the tiny delicate flowers to this dish reminds me of the lightness of spring.

      FOR 4

      1 medium egg yolk

      about 175ml extra-virgin olive oil

      juice of 1 lemon

      2 bundles of sea kale, stalk ends trimmed where they have been cut

      1 or 2 small blood oranges or 1 large navel orange, peeled and pith removed, then cut crossways into 5mm-thick slices

      about 12 viola flowers picked from the garden or a pot, stems removed

      a few leaves of winter purslane or lamb’s lettuce

      salt and black pepper

      To make the mayonnaise, put the egg yolk into a pestle and mortar. (You can do this in the food processor or KitchenAid, but this is just the way we have made it in our family over the years, as it gives you more direct control and contact with the way the yolk is responding to the olive oil – how thick you want it and how much lemon to put in can be adjusted to taste in a more satisfying way.) Very slowly start adding the oil – it should be drops at the beginning not a continuous stream, stirring all the time. Once the egg yolk and oil have become one and there is no sign of separation – the mixture should start to feel gloopy and stiff – add a squeeze of lemon juice. Keep stirring and

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