Sumer Is Icumen In

It's finally got hot here in Normandy and I'm loving it. The new vegetables are beginning to be available in serious quantities and warmth is conducive to leisurely meals sur l'herbe, it's picnic time.



Today I made some pasties, but not your tired old root veggies and onions. These are packed full of the best baby vegetables the garden could offer, tiny broad beans, courgettes no longer than my finger, the scape of an elephant garlic chopped fine, new carrots and fresh green coriander all bound together with a whisper of soy yoghurt and held within a crisp coat of flaky pastry.



Chop your babies fine and there will be no need to steam or pre cook them in anyway. Allium scapes, despite looking deliciously crisp all the way down do start to get tough at the root end. Start with the flower and work down stopping as soon as there starts to be some resistance to the knife.

I swapped carrots for the baby artichoke in the picture. Our artichokes grown in the chilly north of France tend to coarsen quickly and I most often use them in a pottage of herbs and potatoes where they can be cleanly pared and checked for toughness before they reach the mouth.

Mix your vegetables with a minimum of soy yoghurt or leave it out altogether. If you don't use it consider adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or extra herbs, dill might be good with these.

Pastry, I used ready made but make your own by all means. Roll it out to a circle and divide into quarters, spoon a little filling on to each and fold the pastry over sealing the edges tightly. Make a small steam hole in the top of each and bake at about 200C for 25 to 30 minutes. The vegetables will be just cooked and the pastry lightly golden.

Seasoning, there was none, relying on the delicate flavours of the vegetables and coriander, but you might sprinkle in a little aromatic black pepper if you like it.

To serve, English Cucumber salad, simply sliced cucumbers (not my own unfortunately) sprinkled with pinch of salt and a tad of white vinegar before being allowed to wilt in its own juice for an hour.