Broad beans, peas and asparagus with ricotta
Finding ways to celebrate your greens is something we love doing, and it couldn’t be better when in season and at its freshest- Cavolo nero sautéed with garlic and chili, crunchy long stem broccoli, a raw kale marinated salad.. or simply crisped in the oven. For the fashion shoots, we work on big mixed crunchy greens are always very popular, either done very simply or jazzed up with toasted hazelnuts and a tahini ginger dressing. Spring and early summer are the best times to do this with your greens, celebrate them all together in a dish- to take a single color, but with pleasingly different shades that make you stop to admire what’s in there. This week we have put together a new favourite of ours- one that was inspired from a favourite bruschetta of ours, delicious cooling ricotta with punchy green broad beans. We recommend serving it on a flat dish like this- so you can display everything in a fun inviting psychopath way Ricotta has been a lifelong addiction of ours- the Italian curd cheese that is made from whey. Its incredibly light and creamy, delicate in flavor and slightly grainy in texture. We love it for both savory and sweet- a perfect alternative to heavy creamy dishes- being low in fat and not feeling rich. There are so many ways we like ricotta- into fritters, spaghetti, baked with chili and tomatoes, ice cream.. or like this, using it as a cool decadent base to healthy crunchy greens. This is the ideal dish to serve with a BBQ, butterflied lamb to crispy spatchcock chicken and charred vegetables. The creamy decadence to the ricotta goes so well with charred meats and It looks beautiful: you can decorate the greens like your very own garden. Adding micro herbs and edible flowers.. This week we went to the Chelsea flower show which is always such a spectacle, we both loved walking around and looking at all the sensational flower displays- so incredibly inspiring, how visually orgasmic it all was- this is the effect we want when putting our seasonal salads together when wanting to impress. To be displayed in a flat serving dish like this, that you can slightly play around with and create something beautiful.
INGREDIENTS
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix your ricotta in a bowl with the lemon zest, a good glug of truffle oil, garlic that has been squeezed and mushed out of its skins, chopped basil and sea salt. Mix until smooth. We podded our broadbeans and put them in boiling water for no longer then 2 mins, once cooled remove their skins and put into a bowl. We steamed our asparagus for no longer then 4 mins, keeping the crunch, then sliced them lengthways, and then again so as to quarter. If using frozen pees let them defrost, if fresh put them in boiling water for a few minutes. We like keeping the sugar snap peas and corgette raw, slicing thinely. Add all your greens (doesn’t have to be all of these) to a bowl, add your lemon juice, parmesan, nigella seeds, pinenuts, olive oil and salt and pepper. Toss through the majority of your herbs. Make sure well coated. On your serving plate dollop the ricotta mixture, making a hole in the middle to put your greens. Add the greens next, garnish with sliced chili, extra lemon zest and herbs.