Spring Vegetable Fricassée 

A Spring vegetable fricassée  is an elevated way to serve your green vegetables! It makes a perfect side dish for Spring lamb but works just as well with fish, chicken or with a poached egg on top.

A fricassee is a great way to add texture, color and flavor to a plate of food. I'd normally make it while meat was resting, using the fat and fond still in the pan. But this is a standalone side dish, and I love how easy and fresh it is.

Best Spring Vegetable Fricassee recipe

Normally a French fricassée will have a velouté base made with meat stock as the liquid part (or cream as a cheat version), but after experimenting I decided that I wanted to preserve the vibrant green color of the dish. So I make an asparagus, pea and mint puree instead. It gives some extra moisture, boosts flavor and looks beautiful and fresh.

Ingredient notes

You can use any mixture of spring veg, but I prefer asparagus, leeks, sugar snap peas and garden peas as my MVPs. Then, you'll need some shallot and garlic, lots of fresh herbs and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. Oh, and some good quality unsalted butter.

I like to use mint, chives and parsley as my fresh herb trio, but you can easily swap out the mint for dill, tarragon or rosemary to change the flavor profile and adapt it to your main dish. For example, if serving this pea and asparagus fricassee with fish (like my salmon en croute), I use dill. For chicken or roast beef, I use tarragon and for lamb I use mint and/or rosemary. In fact, I used rosemary flower as the garnish when I shot the recipe and they added a very subtle rosemary flavor that worked perfectly with the fresh mint.

You can use dried herbs, but bear in mind they are stronger so you will need less of it (a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon). You can also add some creme fraiche to this Spring vegetable fricassée at the end too which is super tasty, and makes it a bit richer. However, it will compromise the color.

Instructions

1. Blanch the green vegetables in a pan of salted boiling water for 2 minutes, just until they turn a vibrant green color, then immediately drain and transfer to a bowl of ice water.

2. Take around a quarter of the veg and blend it to a smooth puree with the juice of a lemon, some finely chopped mint, salt and pepper.

3. Fry finely diced shallot and garlic in butter until translucent, then add the remaining blanched Spring vegetables. Allow them to warm through and finish cooking in the garlicky shallot butter.

4. Stir through the puree and bring up to temperature. Add some freshly chopped chives and parsley and more salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

How to serve

I garnish with edible flowers and more fresh herbs, perhaps even a quick grate of lemon zest. Sometimes I'll add some crispy fried prosciutto to give a bit of extra oomph but it really doesn't need it. This Spring vegetable fricassee tastes wonderful on the side of Roast Leg of Lamb, Lamb Rump Roast or Citrus and Herb Spatchcock Chicken. I'd place some garlic potato roses on the table as well.

It's also the perfect Easter side dish!

Wine Pairing

This will depend on what you are serving it with. I like a crisp Loire Valley white wine with asparagus and spring green vegetable recipes, and if you are serving this Spring side dish with whole roasted fish like a seabass, that is perfect, too. But if you're serving lamb or red meat you'll need something a little fruitier and most robust. Rhone Valley reds are some of my favorite red wines to enjoy with lamb.

What if I have leftovers?

You can make the components of this Spring recipe in advance and then chuck it all together and heat it through before serving, which makes it ideal when you're entertaining. Store everything in the fridge until you're ready. If you have leftovers, store in an airtight container and gently reheat on the stove.

Can I freeze it?

Yes, although the Spring green vegetables will lose a little of their vibrancy and texture upon defrosting so I personally wouldn't freeze this recipe.

Equipment

Blanch veg in a big saucepan full of salted water at a rolling boil to avoid overcrowding the pan and losing heat. I have an immersion blender (stick blender) that comes with a small blender attachment like a mini food processor and that is great for making purees as it's so user friendly and doesn't take up loads of kitchen space. And then I generally cook everything together in my big stainless steel pan that I got in Chicago and hauled back across the Atlantic with great difficulty.