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Compliments of Robin Gill, The Dairy, Clapham, London

Everyone has food memories and most of us remember eating fresh peas from a pod. Sweet and juicy, the taste and bouncy texture alert you to summer just around the corner. As a chef, the last months of winter can be challenging, so the appearance of fresh peas is a welcome sign that soon the crates from the farm will be full and plentiful. Most of our dishes start with a conversation about what we have. This dish, with peas from our farm and mint from the rooftop, was created during a team brainstorming session while we worked together to pick, shell, wash, and trim the morning delivery. 

The Garden Chef: Recipes and Stories from Plant to Plate (Phaidon) is available now

Ingredients

NORI OIL 
350ml grapeseed oil
5 x 3g sheets dried nori,
cut into small pieces
30g parsley, leaves picked
30g chervil, leaves picked
30g tarragon, leaves picked
30g dill, leaves picked 

Method

Put the oil into the freezer to chill for 2 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Toast the nori on a baking sheet in the oven for 5 minutes. 

Blanch the herb leaves in a pan of boiling water for 2 minutes, then refresh in ice water and drain well. Coarsely chop the herbs. 

Put the oil and toasted nori into a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Add the herbs and blend again for 2 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set over ice (keeping the oil cool helps to retain the bright green colour). 

Store the nori oil in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month or in the freezer for up to 3 months. 

FRIED BREAD CRUMBS
150g yesterday’s sourdough
25ml Arbequina olive oil
½ clove garlic, crushed
grated zest of ½ lemon
1 sprig lemon thyme leaves picked
Maldon sea salt 

Method

Chop the bread into pieces, then dry out completely in a dehydrator, or in the oven on its lowest setting, for 3–4 hours. Blend the dried bread in a food processor to a bread crumb consistency. 

Set a wide-bottomed pan over medium heat and add the olive oil followed by the bread crumbs. Toast, using a whisk to stir the crumbs, for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Add the crushed garlic, lemon zest, and thyme with a pinch of salt and mix. Tip the mixture onto a flat tray lined with paper towels and let cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. 

PEA MOUSSE
1 ½ x 2.5g leaf gelatin sheets
500g frozen garden peas
10g SosaProEspuma Cold
salt 

Method

Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water. 

Bring a medium pan of water to a rolling boil with a generous pinch of salt. Blanch the peas in the water for 2 minutes, then drain. Tip into a blender and blend until smooth. 

Drain the softened gelatin, then warm it gently in a small pan with a splash of water to melt it. Add the gelatin to the pea puree along with the ProEspuma and blend to incorporate. Pass the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve onto a flat tray set over ice to cool the mixture as quickly as possible. 

Decant the mixture into a whipping siphon so that it is three-quarters full. Add two charges and give the whipping siphon a strong shake. Refrigerate until required. 

LEMON GEL
½ leaf gelatin sheet
35g caster sugar
75ml lemon juice 

TO SERVE 
500g podded fresh peas
1 head celery
Nori Oil, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
15 g chives, chopped
100 g Fried Bread Crumbs 
Maldon sea salt
pea shoots
celery pollen