Lamb and feta smash burgers with squishy aubergine and toasted pitta; Jerseys with Minty Mojo and burrata; Brothy braised peas, lettuce and asparagus
Something For The (Easter?) Weekend: New recipes with lamb, asparagus and Jersey royals
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Happy (almost) Easter, my dears! I tried something a little bit different last week and got some newsletter-related conversations going over in our special subscriber chat, and it was SO lovely to chat to some of you and hear that the ‘season-straddling’ braised mutton with wild garlic dumplings is going to be gracing Easter tables this weekend. And yes, you can absolutely make it with lamb if you can’t get mutton, it’ll still be delightful.
Today I’m coming to you with more brand new recipes, breaking with this newsletter’s usual format and sharing this month’s Something For the Weekend recipe drop earlier in the month because it’s a bank hols here in the UK, and I thought it might be helpful to be waiting in your inboxes with some cooking inspiration in case you’re on the lookout for ideas of what to cook this weekend. It’s quite nice to mix things up a bit, don’t you think?
With Easter upon us, I really didn’t want you to have to wait for this lamb and feta smash burger recipe for one day longer than you absolutely had to: ditto these super seasonal new potato and asparagus/pea side dishes. If you feel like feasting with something relaxed, unconventional and next level delicious for your Easter meal — if that’s something you celebrate — then the burgers are a really fun, convivial and delicious recipe to have up your sleeve for sharing with friends, family, kids, anyone who enjoys a ‘build-your-own’ burger situation. It could be a really good one for the bank Holiday Monday, though I would very much encourage you to make it as soon as you can, regardless of the Easter tie-in.
There is A LOT to love about this recipe, with its deeply caramelised cumin and feta spiked lamb patties, silken, squishy roast aubergine and neon pink pickled onions, which are all loaded into crispy toasted pitta with crunchy fresh cucumber and a slathering of harissa yoghurt. It’s the sort of dish where every single mouthful sings with a collision of complimentary flavours, and while I was dubious as to whether our kids (3 and 1) would go for it, I shouldn’t have worried as they honestly devoured the whole lot — though I did swap out the harissa yoghurt for tzatziki for them. It’s also a really economical way to feed a table of four people, too, so great if you’re not in the mood for splashing out on a big joint of lamb for the weekend.
I think I might have previously mentioned how much I love spring? Well, the past couple of weeks in my kitchen have been an absolute delight, because there are few moments in the year here in the UK, when we have such unique and exquisite gifts from the seasons: namely, the arrival of Jersey Royal potatoes and English asparagus, two of my absolute favourite ingredients. To celebrate, I’ve developed two ravishing new recipes using both, though — hi friends in the res of the world — you can and absolutely should make these recipes using the freshest new potatoes and local asparagus you can get your hands on. Both of these vegetable-forward dishes deserve a place at your Easter and/or spring table, either as a side or a starter, and one or both will be being served up this Sunday on mine: I’m cooking for us and my mum and Jamie’s folks.
We have brothy braised peas with lettuce and asparagus which is my take on the classic French dish of Petits pois à la française, and brings together the sweetest braised peas, meaty seared lettuce and crunchy, juicy charred asparagus with a few more simple ingredients to make one of the most sublime side dishes you’re ever likely to cook. It’s amazing alongside roast lamb, grilled fish or chicken. Or it’s equally lovely eaten simply on its own, perhaps topped with a soft poached egg and a slice of toast or a chunk of fresh bread. You could also tumble it through warm pasta and finish with spoonfuls of ricotta or a generous grating of pecorino or parmesan for a gorgeous springtime supper. I really do urge you to make this — it’s one of those moments of culinary alchemy that captures exactly what I love about cooking: a few simple ingredients, brought together just so, becoming something coherent, elevated, and utterly delightful: a dish that feels at once harmonious and surprising. Yup, alchemy.
In my opinion, Jersey Royals are the finest potatoes in the world. Their creamy, nutty flesh, waxy texture, and distinctive minerality are unmatched — the result of being hand-graded and planted in January on Jersey’s sun-soaked côtils, steep coastal hillsides that overlook the sea. They’re fertilised with local seaweed known as vraic, and harvested in April, capturing the unique character of both land and sea.
Jerseys hold PDO status (Protected Designation of Origin) for this reason, and have a very limited season from April to July and that just makes them hugely special. In my family growing up, the arrival of ‘Jerseys’ was always marked with great ceremony and excitement, as it was for my mum before me, we would just boil them in well salted water with a sprig of mint from the garden, and then slather them with salted butter and black pepper and eat them: often just on their own to really savour them. If you’ve never done that before and can get your hands on some, do try it.
But you should also try this recipe, which is partly inspired by our trip to Lanzarote, where they serve ‘wrinkled’ new potatoes (spuds that have been cooked in really, really salty water until said water evaporates and leaves a salt crust) with 'mojo verde sauce for dipping. I wouldn’t want to wrinkle new season Jerseys, but mojo verde is a vividly green sauce made with coriander and spiced with cumin, and it is absolutely lovely on the side of both potatoes and roasted meats, making it ideal for Easter, and any barbecues you might have coming up. The torn burrata with its pure, fresh creaminess is the perfect vehicle for the nutty spuds, and the toasted seeds add an irresistible texture and pop of cumin to proceedings.
I saw some cheffy blokes negging smash burgers on Instagram the other day, questioning why you’d flatten — and in their view — overcook your burger patties deliberately. Personally, I’ve never met a smash burger that wasn’t bloody delicious, and I also like lamb burgers made this way for exactly the reason these guys didn’t —