Leeks of Summer

At this time of year, bearing in mind that my part of the country is at present basking in some of the most extreme temperatures it has experienced since summer 2006, it's a good idea to cook main meals that are very light and have lots of fresh ingredients. With this in my mind I set out to cook a leek and lemon linguine dish during the early part of the heatwave that took place on the first Saturday in July.

For me the taste of fresh peas and broad beans cannot be beaten at this time of year and although it was a chore shelling them for this recipe their taste was worth it as it was a far superior taste to that provided by their frozen counterparts.

The CD that played in the background of the afternoon's cooking was Pink Floyd's 1969 soundtrack to the french hippy movie More. It was certainly the case that spaced out Hammond and Farfisa Organ licks of tracks like Cirrus Minor sounded even better with cloudless summer sun coming in through the kitchen windows.

I added enough oil to the bottom of my Le Cresceut dish to just about cover it and fried two diced cloves of garlic, a pinch of white pepper and two well-washed leeks that I'd first halved and sliced length-ways prior to adding to the dish. I fried them on a medium light until the leeks began to soften and turn a very slightly rusty brown colour.

While the leeks, garlic and pepper were cooking I steamed around 150 grams of fresh peas and 150 grams of broad beans for five minutes with a generous helping of fresh mint that I'd previously plucked from the bottom of the garden. When the leeks were cooked I added the broad beans to the Le Cresceut with the juice and zest of two lemons and half a pint of dry white wine. Once I had stirred these extra ingredients into the dish I let them cook in the juice of the wine and lemons for around five minutes so as to soften the vegetables further and make them ultimately taste fresher.

I then added a small tub, about 290 millelitres worth, of creme freche together with 25 grams of grated Parmesan Cheese and the fresh peas that now smelled of fresh mint.

While these ingredients cooked on a low light I boiled in a pan 300 grams of Linguine Pasta, which is like a slightly thinner version of spaghetti, for fifteen minutes until it had softened enough to be added to the Le Cresceut Dish. At the same time as I added the Linguine I also added five stalks of fresh basil from the window box and some ground mint. Once I had stirred the pasta, basil and mint into the other ingredients the dish was ready to serve.

Although the Parmesan made the meal a little rich, as Parmesan does when you add it to any food, the wine, lemon juice and homegrown mint added a real freshness to the dish that meant it was ideal to help cool down during what was a very warm day.

The finished dish; substantial enough to fill you up but light enough to help you cope with the hot weather.