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Asparagus, pea and lovage croquettes

on a garden salad

Serves 4

Broken open, these crunchy, golden croquettes reveal all the joys of spring. Oozing with a vivid green filling of peas, asparagus and fragrant, slightly spicy lovage, they are at once indulgent and virtuous, and serious fun. Here I serve them with a dollop of sour cream but they are also lovely with the homemade mayo (see here).

For the asparagus

420ml salted water

200g asparagus spears, trimmed

juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

For the croquettes

150g frozen peas

25g lovage leaves and stems (or flat-leaf parsley), roughly chopped

40g butter

1 tsp crushed pink peppercorns

150g plain flour

1 tbsp white wine

50g Comté or Gruyère cheese, grated

30g feta, finely crumbled

grated zest of the lemon above

150g panko breadcrumbs

4 eggs

150ml vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

For the garden salad

2 handfuls of mixed seasonal leaves (I love sorrel, spinach and nasturtium)

handful of lovage (or flat-leaf parsley), leaves picked

handful of pea shoots

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

juice of 2 lemons or 1 tbsp elderflower vinegar (see here)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

150g sour cream

handful of edible flowers (chive, wild garlic or nasturtium work well) (optional)

1 First, cook the asparagus. Bring the water to the boil in a saucepan. Add the asparagus and cook for 3–5 minutes, or until tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and leave to cool slightly. Reserve the water in the pan. Cut away 2cm of the bottom of each spear, very thinly slice and set aside in a bowl – this will go into the croquettes. Place the remaining tips in a separate small bowl and toss with a little of the lemon juice and olive oil for the salad.

2 For the croquettes, bring the asparagus water back up to the boil and add the peas. Cook for 1 minute, then add the lovage. Cook for 30 seconds. Take out 50g of the peas with a slotted spoon, leaving the rest in the pan of cooking water. Put the reserved peas in the bowl with the sliced asparagus set aside for the croquettes. Pour the pan contents – the peas, lovage and cooking water – into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth green liquid – you’re going to use this for the bechamel.

3 Heat a non-stick frying pan or skillet over a medium heat. Melt the butter in the pan with the crushed pink peppercorns. Gradually stir in 60g of the flour and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened and is smelling nutty. Reduce the heat slightly, add the wine and blitzed pea mixture and cook, stirring, for 5–6 minutes, or until you have a thickened, smooth sauce.

4 Stir in the cheeses, lemon zest, sliced asparagus and reserved peas, stirring until the cheeses have melted in nicely. Season well with salt. Pour onto a plate or tray, allow to cool and cover with cling film. Put it in the fridge to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours (you could leave it overnight), until well set.

5 Once the mixture is set, grab it out of the fridge. It’s time to ‘crumb’ (or, as the French call it, ‘pané’) and because this is quite a chunky, veg-packed mix, you need to give the croquettes a double coating. Gather two plates, a bowl and a flat tray covered with greaseproof paper. Place the remaining flour on one plate, the breadcrumbs on the other, and crack the eggs into the bowl. Lightly beat them, then, using oiled hands so that they don’t stick to the mixture, pinch off about a ping-pong-ball-sized lump of mix, roll to form it into a croquette or cylindrical shape. Repeat with all the mixture to make 10–15 croquettes, placing them on the greaseproof paper. Chill for 15 minutes. Then, using one hand and keeping the other clean for handling the rest of the mix, dip each croquette in the flour, tossing all over to coat, followed by the egg and breadcrumbs to coat completely. Repeat the process with the rest of the croquettes, until they are all coated, then repeat once more with each one and chill them all in the fridge for 10 minutes.

6 Heat the vegetable oil in a high-sided frying pan over a high heat until it’s shimmering. Place a plate lined with kitchen paper next to the hob and shallow-fry the croquettes in batches for 3–5 minutes, turning them to produce an even golden crumb, until crisp. Drain on the kitchen paper and season with salt.

7 For the salad, place the seasonal leaves, lovage and pea shoots in a salad bowl. Add the reserved asparagus spears, spring onions and lemon juice or elderflower vinegar, drizzle with a little extra oil, season with salt and pepper and toss together lightly to combine.

8 Spread the sour cream on four plates and top with the croquettes. Pile on some salad and garnish with the edible flowers.