It’s impossible not to get excited by spring, a season full of hope and promise, longer days and warmer weather. I get carried away just thinking about those sunlit evenings that are begging to be well spent. This week’s recipes are all about fresh, green herbs, be that in place of lettuce to accompany baked new season garlic or whizzed up in a vibrant green sauce to dress a piece of sea trout. If you have a decent food market nearby, you should be able to get hold of produce in peak condition. Proper fresh food will revitalise your cooking and transform every mouthful, no matter how simply prepared.
Roast new season garlic with labneh and herb salad
New season garlic is deliciously sweet and mellow; if you can’t get hold of any, just buy the freshest garlic you can find instead. Make the labneh a few hours ahead, or even the day before, if you can. (Alternatively, buy it from a Middle Eastern grocer.) Serves four.
1 big handful fresh mint leaves
1 small bunch parsley, leaves picked (save the stalks for soup or some such)
1 small bunch coriander, leaves and stalks
100g rocket
100g spinach
2 tbsp olive oil
The rind of ¼ preserved lemon, chopped (or the zest and juice of ½ small lemon)
Extra-virgin olive oil, to serve
Za’atar, to serve
Flatbreads, to serve
For the labneh and garlic
500g Greek yoghurt, strained
About ½ tsp sea salt
4 heads fresh new season garlic
1 tsp thyme leaves
40g butter
To make the labneh, tip the yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the salt – you should just be able to taste the salt, so add more if it needs it. Spoon the yoghurt into the centre of a clean muslin or kitchen cloth, draw up the corners and tie loosely together, then suspend over a bowl and leave somewhere cool overnight, to drain.
The next day, heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Cut just the top off each head of garlic, to reveal the tips of the cloves. Sprinkle the cut side with salt and thyme leaves, then rub with butter. Loosely wrap in foil (this will stop the garlic drying out in the oven), transfer to a baking dish and roast for about 40 minutes. Check after half an hour, just in case: the garlic is done when the cloves are soft and easily squeezed between your fingers. Cooking times will vary depending on the size of the cloves, so roast for longer if they’re still firm.
While the garlic is in the oven, roughly chop all the herbs and leaves. Heat the oil in a frying pan or saucepan on a medium flame, add all the greens and stir until they start to wilt in the hot oil. Take off the heat straight away, season to taste, and stir in the preserved lemon.
When the garlic is cooked, put a whole head on each of four plates. Place a dollop of labneh and a small handful of wilted greens alongside, drizzle everything in oil and dust with za’atar. Serve with warm flatbreads.
Sea trout, bagnet vert and roast radishes
Bagnet vert is a vibrant, green sauce that’s both rich and fresh, and a lovely counterpart to the sweet flesh of the sea trout and the bitterness of the radishes – it’s an altogether delightful feast. Serves four.
250g radishes
Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sea trout fillets, about 150g each
For the bagnet vert
250g stale bread (sourdough for preference), torn into chunks
2 tsp sherry vinegar
100-150ml water
2 large bunches flat-leaf parsley (about 150g), picked, keeping aside a few small leaves to garnish
10 anchovy fillets packed in oil
1 tbsp capers, drained
200ml olive oil
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Toss the radishes in a little oil and a squeeze of lemon, sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 20 minutes, until pale and just tender.
Meanwhile, make the bagnet vert. In a bowl, toss the bread in the vinegar and 100ml water, then leave to soak for 10 minutes. Put the rest of the sauce ingredients in a food processor, add the bread (it should by now have absorbed all the liquid) and whizz smooth. Add more water, little by little, as you whizz, to loosen the mix to a sauce-like consistency, then pour into a bowl and season to taste. Just before you cook the fish, spoon a good-sized dollop of sauce on to each of four plates and, using the back of the spoon, smooth it out into a circle.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a high flame. Season the fish on both sides, then fry skin side down for two and a half to three minutes, until the skin is crisp and golden. Flip and fry on the other side for just a minute, then transfer a fillet to each plate. Scatter each portion with roast radishes, sprinkle with small parsley leaves, add a squeeze of lemon and serve immediately.
And for the rest of the week…
Whenever I find new season’s garlic, I always buy plenty, because it is as good fresh as it is roasted: the sweet cloves have none of the bitterness you associate with stale winter garlic. Chop them into sauces or dry-roast them in their skins with chillies, onions and tomatoes, to make fresh, healthy salsas to zip up your cooking. Leftover labneh can be dolloped on everything from eggs on toast to grainy salads and grilled fish. As for the green sauce, it transforms virtually any ingredient. Try tossing jersey royals in a little oil and sea salt, roasting until crisp and golden, and serve with the sauce as a dip. Or make an antipasti spread of a selection of salads and cheeses with the sauce alongside; or just drizzle on toast and top with the sweetest tomatoes you can find.
