Grow your own peas and tuck into a delicious lasagne
You’ll never go back to frozen peas! Try growing flavoursome home-grown peas to freshen up your recipes. Our friends at BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine are on hand with growing tips, and you won’t want to miss a delicious lasagne recipe for your peas from the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2022.
Peas are a a great staple to add to your vegetable plot. Used in a great many recipes, you’ll be able to elevate your cooking with peas that pack a punch in flavour. Read below for garden know-how from BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. Plus, a broken lasagne recipe using courgette, peas and mint from the BBC Good Food Show Summer in 2022.
Sowing peas
Between March and early June you can sow peas in a sunny, well-drained spot. Use plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure to improve the soil.
Make a shallow trench using a hoe or spade, 22cm wide and 3cm deep. Sow the peas in two parallel lines, with seeds about 10cm apart.
Next, cover the seeds with soil and water well. The seedlings should appear in one or two weeks.
Planting out peas
- When planting out peas, put supports in place while they’re still young, for the pea shoots to wrap themselves aroung
- Large twigs, known as pea sticks, can be used, or a row of netting.
Harvesting and storage
Harvest about three months after sowing. For the best flavour, pick and use straight away. You can keep peas for a week in the fridge, or if you have space, put in your freezer to keep for longer.
Broken lasagne with courgette, pea and mint
This recipe is from the BBC Good Food Show Summer 2022, as seen on the Italian Kitchen from Samuel Goldsmith, Food Copy Editor, BBC Good Food Magazine.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 240g dried lasagne sheets, broken into large pieces
- 200g mangetout
- 120g garden peas
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus 1 tsp
- 1 courgette, sliced in half lengthways and cut into 1cm half moons
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 50g parmesan, grated plus extra to serve
- 15g butter
- 10g fresh mint, roughly chopped
Method
Boil a a large pan of salted water, add the broken lasagne sheets and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until al dente. Add the mangetout and peas for the lasting 2 minutes and drain. Keep around 200ml of the pasta water.
Next, place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add 1 tsp of olive oil, the courgettes, and a pinch of salt. Cook for 8-10 minutes until golden and softened. Then, add chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute.
In a large bowl, mix the lemon zest and juice, parmesan, butter and remaining olive oil. Season with black pepper. Add the pasta, mangetout, peas and courgettes to the bowl, with 100ml of the pasta water and toss. Add more pasta water if the mixture looks dry. The butter and parmesan should melt into a silky sauce, coating the pasta.
Stir in the mint and then serve up in four bowls, with a sprinkle of parmesan.