‘Plastic Free – Every little helps…’

It’s true, we are all talking about plastic waste more now, and although we may not all be aware, it’s certainly taken the spot light in news articles over the past couple months. That being said, are supermarkets really doing their bit to help? Still, every week when the Ocado order arrives, I am baffled by the amount of ridiculous packaging! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not only Ocado doing this. I get that some things currently are totally un realistic not to use plastic, but when you are receiving 1 aubergine wrapped in a plastic bag, or two lemons on a plastic tray, in a plastic package… Really? I know not everyone has the luxury of space to grow their own veg or be close to a farm shop or grocers so the supermarkets need to pull their finger out. For those of you that are local, I can highly recommend Lathcoats farm shop (Great Baddow) for fresh veg with of course no plastic! And you will be supporting a local business too.

‘Pea, Mint & Goats Cheese, Pearl Barley Risotto’

So, following on from last month’s edition talking about fresh home grown produce, we thought we would leave you with this fresh simple recipe since we had our first harvest of peas ready for picking!

Ingredients:

• 1 shallot
• 3 cloves of black garlic
• 150g pearl barley
• 200ml veg stock
• 1 lemon
• 150g fresh peas
• Mint (around 6 large leaves)
• Big sprig of thyme
• Goats cheese
• Parmesan
• Spinach

Method:

Finely slice the shallots and sweat them down in a pan with salt and pepper. Just before they start to brown too much, add the pearl barley and ensure you give it a good mix for a couple of minutes to give all the grains a coating of oil. At this point, add your garlic.

Add stock, bring to the boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, blitz up the peas (keep a handful to one side) with lemon, mint, 100ml of water. Season with salt and pepper to taste. The result should end up in a paste texture.

During the last 5 minutes of you pearl barely cooking, add the pea and mint puree that you have made and mix in well. Grate as much or as little parmesan as you wish at this point too and add it to the pan along with the peas you kept to one side.

Dish up into pasta bowls, top with chunks of goat’s cheese, thyme and a drizzle of olive oil.

Enjoy!