Lettuce / Watercress Recipes

Lettuce, rocket, watercress, beetroot thinnings, mizuna; so many types of salad leaves to try. Be adventurous ! Add nasturtium or borage flowers to salad for colour.
See www.watercress.co.uk for lots of recipes
Watercress Soup

Large handful of watercress
2 potatoes
1 onion
20 g butter
500 ml veg stock
200 to 500ml milk
single cream (optional)

Chop onion and sweat in butter. When soft add chopped potatoes and 500ml vegetable stock, cook for 10 mins. Then add roughly chopped watercress and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Dilute with similar quantity of milk to your taste, heat through gently. If lumpy, blend to your favourite consistency. Season with salt & pepper. Add cream before serving if desired for a richer soup.

Summer Soup

350g potatoes – peeled and chopped
4 Spring opinions – chopped
1 lettuce – washed and chopped
½ cucumber
50 g butter
850 ml stock
Salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the chopped potatoes, spring onions, lettuce, and cucumber. Sweat gently for 10 minutes with the lid on. After 10 minutes add the stock with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer over a low heat with the lid on for 20 minutes. Cool slightly and puree.

Lettuce and Walnut Loaf

Lettuce adds moistness- it tastes much better than it sounds !

350g sugar
175 ml veg oil

1 tbsp lemon juice
4 eggs
350 g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda
tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
450 g lettuce finely chopped
125 g walnuts

Whisk sugar and oil together, add lemon juice and eggs and beat well.
Fold in flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt.
Stir in lettuce and walnuts. Pour into greased loaf tin
Bake in preheated oven 180C for 50 mins or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Sauted Peas & Lettuce
Blanch peas in boiling water with a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar, drain and cool under running water.
Heat butter and gently fry a clove of garlic, add chopped smoky bacon, then crisp lettuce and peas and cook together for 2 minutes. Season, add a knob of butter and plenty of chopped parsley and serve.

Lettuce Risotto Serves 5-6

1 litre veg stock
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 gloves garlic chopped
350g Arborio rice
2-4 mixed lettuces, roughly shredded
125g fresh peas
12 spring onions
To finish : knob of butter, 25g grated Parmesan cheese

Sweat onion, garlic in oil, then add rice and coat it with oil. Add hot stock and stir. Simmer with lid on for c 15 mins till all stock absorbed. When rice almost cooked add shredded lettuce, chopped spring onions and peas. Stir in vegetables and let cook for 3 mins. Add knob of butter and Parmesan just before serving.

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