An English Pea Supper Galette

Earlier in the year I mentioned that we bought a new variety of English peas for our garden. I'm happy to report that Laxton's Progress No. 9  is quite lovely. The plants are low to the ground and don't require staking, and they are big producers for such little plants. We are just harvesting the last of them.

Tonight, we planned a pea-inspired supper. It's a summer galette filled with spring onions, English peas, broccoli (Fiesta is the variety that I'm loyal to), and some leftover Sunday bacon.

I just knew I had to share this recipe with all of you.

Summer Galette with Peas and Broccoli

For the crust:

1 cup of AP flour
1/4 cup of rye flour
Stick of butter
1/2 tsp salt
Ice water

Combine flours and salt. Cut in butter. Mix in ice water by hand until the dough comes together. Chill in the fridge while you work on the filling.

For the vegetable filling:
2 spring onions, chopped (green and white parts)
1 medium head of broccoli chopped (including stem)
1 cup of English peas *
1 garlic scape, minced
3 pieces of cooked Sunday bacon torn into small bits (optional)

For the cheese mixture:
2/3 cup of cream cheese
3 TB prepared mustard
Sriracha to taste

Saute onions, garlic scape and broccoli in oil or butter until softened. Add English peas and cook for a few minutes more.

Roll out dough and spoon the vegetables into the center. Top with the bacon bits. Dollop the cheese and mustard mixture on top.

Bake in a 375 oven for 35-40 minutes.

**With all of your leftover pea pods, be sure to make a vegetable stock. We made one tonight with pea pods, 4-5 spring onions, sprouting garlic from last season, fresh herbs (oregano, parsley), and sea salt.

Lately

 

A new edition to the garden has been some local straw mulch. Our vegetables seem to be enjoying their new ground cover.

One of my spilanthes plants in bloom. I had all intentions of making a mouthwash but I just keep popping the buds in my mouth when I'm in the garden. If you've never tried it, it's a really intense experience. Spilanthes causes salivation to increase and also makes your mouth tingle.

Snap peas before the afternoon storm.

Our garlic scapes have been harvested, which means it's time to pickle them. This is our very favorite recipe. We love bringing pickled scapes to gatherings. Our friends love them too and have been known to fight over the last scape in the jar.

After my weekend away, I was very happy to see the Musquee de Provence pumpkins growing.

My breadseed poppies are about to bloom.

Whenever we're in the garden lately, we're always snacking on English peas. The peas may not be making it to our freezer but their pods are. We will use them to make vegetable stock.

I must say that out of all of the flowers on this property, I prefer my neighbor's. Particularly these...

and these.

Happy July!

peas please

this week i salvaged from the farm a few flats of both shelling and sugar snap pea sprouts that were headed to the compost pile.
even though i don't have enough room for all of them, i knew i could find a few places for them to set their roots.

we planted quite a few of the shelling peas at the school garden just a block away from my house.
and as friends come and visit i send them each home with a bag of peas to plant in their own garden.
we have plans to plant a bunch in our community garden plot as soon as it gets tilled.

yesterday i planted a row along the front of the chicken run where their little tendrils can grasp on and climb up the wire.
the hens are pretty curious about the peas and have even been trying to nibble a bit.

my mouth is watering as i type this.
i have actually been buying sugar snaps at the market the last few weeks.
norah loves peas as a snack raw or simply steamed with a little sea salt.
she can't wait to run out back and hand pick her very own peas.
that is if the hens don't beat her to it.

peas!

in vermont, we get a pretty late pea crop. our peas are in top form right now. although i know most of my friends prefer snap peas, we like to plant green arrow, which we've found to be the most reliable english pea variety. have you tried them?

they are deliciously sweet right off the vine and just as wonderful cooked or in a pea puree. the best part about growing english peas is that you will have lots of leftover pods to use in making a simple vegetable stock. in fact, i made a batch last night. you'll find my recipe below. the idea for this stock comes from anna thomas' book, love soup, which i highly recommend.



pea pod stock

as many pea pods as you have available (we keep our pods in a large yogurt container in the freezer until we are ready to use them)

2 leeks (white and light green parts only, slightly chopped)

a bunch of celery

a half of an onion or more if you have it

a handful of rainbow peppercorns

a few twists of sea salt

garlic or garlic scapes

herbs (last night i used a combination of fresh oregano tips and dried thyme)

fill a stock pot with water and add the ingredients. feel free to substitute whatever you have that's been lingering in your fridge for a little too long. bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. simmer for about one hour. let cool and then transfer to a freezer container.

now you have a flavorful vegetable stock to use in your summer and fall soup recipes. enjoy!