Sarah Raven's Cock-a- leekie

 

I'm longing to have big jugfulls of homegrown blooms on the  table and bowls of salad with edible flowers. The seeds arrived but It's still too cold to sow them, so I satisfy myself with market or store bought ones. And I read the seed sowing guide, and Sarah Raven's, Grow Cook Eat Diary that came too. 

We celebrated Nowruz Persian new year on the first day of Spring. I love new year cooking. I find it therapeutic to  peel the skins from the cooked baby broad beans, then bake them again with fresh dill and rice to make Baghali Polow. I tried the January cock-a-leekie recipe from the diary even though it's nearly April, and knitted a soft lambswool cowl instead of sewing summer dresses.  

The soup was good, very good.  Hearty and warming, more of a casserole than soup. With the green colour of all those leeks, it hinted at spring and because I know Sarah Raven lives in a castle and the literary history of that place, it somehow made it all a bit more special.

You can find Sarah Raven's cock-a-leekie recipe here. I left out the prunes and didn't have any allspice so used a big green tai chilli kept whole so that I could take it out before serving. I just pricked a small hole in the side to give some heat.