RECIPE: Peas and Shoots, Spring Onions, Yogurt, and Mint
Serves 4-6 as a side dish

• Spring Onions, white or red | 2 bunches
• Butter | 4 oz
• Bay Leaf | 2
• Lemon Peel | 3 large pieces
• Verjus (or white wine if unavailable) | 4 oz
• English Peas, shucked | 3 lb
• Sugar Snap Peas, ends trimmed off | 1 lb
• Pea shoots, washed | ½ lb
• Mint and Parsley leaves, picked | small handful
• Whole milk yogurt | 4 oz
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Slice the spring onions crosswise ¼ inch thick, reserving the dark green tops for another use. Combine butter, lemon peel and bay leaves in a wide, shallow pan-wide enough to accommodate onions in a shallow layer- and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Turn up the heat and add the sliced spring onions to the pan. Season lightly with salt, stir in a splash of water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cover. Cook slowly on low heat until the onions are just barely translucent and tender, add in the verjus or white wine and continue to cook another 5 minutes. Remove the lemon peel, bay leaves, and set this onion mixture aside.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large salted pot of water to boil and prepare an ice bath. Blanch the English peas and snap peas separately; for just a minute or so each, shock them in the ice water, and drain.
3. In a mortar and pestle, or with the side of a chef’s knife, bruise the mint and parsley together until they are crushed and aromatic. Using a large, wide sauté pan, heat the onion mixture over medium heat with a splash of water, add in the pea shoots, season with salt, and stir them in with the onions. Once the pea shoots begin to wilt, add in the English peas, cook for another couple minutes adding water as necessary if the pan appears dry, this mixture should always be nice and juicy. Stir in the snap peas and crushed herbs and continue to cook just until the snap peas are heated through. Season to taste with salt and a very generous drizzle of olive oil. Transfer to a serving bowl and finish with a drizzle of yogurt and cracked black pepper.

For Your Spirits

The Church at Locanda has quickly become one of our favorites, described by a local blogger as “…refreshing without being cliche, substantial without being too heavy, and chalk full of alcohol without being unbalanced.”

////Recipe////

- 1 oz London Dry Gin
- 1 oz Aperol
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- .5 oz Cocchi Americano
- .5 oz Small hands gomme
- 1 orange twist
1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all of the ingredients except the orange twist and shake vigorously. Strain twice into a large rocks glass with ice and garnish with the orange twist.
 
 

Try it with dessert next time you dine with us, or stop by the bar and enjoy it alone. Up next? Housemade Limoncello.

Chris Wright and a group of lovely volunteers recently took a trip up to Sheldon Wines – the urban winery in Santa Rosa – to learn first hand about how the wines we serve on tap are put into kegs. In celebration of the release of their Gemini Project, a Granache/Syrah blend making it’s menu debut next week, the husband and wife duo at Sheldon shared their wine making philosophy, introduced us to the process of ‘kegging’ wines and then passed the hoses to us.

 In short we learned:

1. Wine making is about 80% hygiene.
2. Wearing white whilst making (or tasting) wine is dumb.
3. If you want to taste wine while kegging wine, do so carefully.
4. If a winemaker tells you they had a hard day at work, you can be about 95% certain your job is still not as fun.

Photo: Tasting Table

As a preview of what’s to come from Locanda during the Mission’s first Roman Spring, we’re sharing a recipe that debuted last year on Tasting Table. While this is an easy at home recipe, don’t be fooled by it’s simplicity. For as Tasting Table  said, “This soup’s concentrated spring flavors will have us clamoring for our soupspoons long into the season.”

Ingredients:

• English peas, 2#
• Prosciutto Hock or Un-smoked Ham Hock 1
• Parmesan Rind 8 oz
• Bay leaves 2
• Coriander Seeds Pinch
• Pancetta, thinly sliced into quarter-width pieces 1 oz
• Pea Shoots 1 good handful
• Little Gem Lettuce, cut into 1/2 “ squares 1 head
• Fresh, Firm Ricotta, or Ricotta Salata 8 oz
• Black Pepper
• Salt
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Preparation:

1. Broth: Pour 2 quarts of water into a saucepan, add Hock, Parmesan Rind, Bay, Coriander, and a big pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
2. Shuck the fresh peas, reserving the pods.
3. Rinse the pea pods, pea shoots, and little gems separately in cold water, drain, and set aside.
4. After the broth has been cooking 20-30 minutes, add in the pea pods and continue to simmer.
5. In a separate pot, heat the pancetta slowly in a bit of olive oil until it starts to sizzle and almost becomes crisp. Add shucked peas and increase the heat to medium-high, salt lightly and stir. After the peas cook for a couple minutes, add in the lettuce and ¼ of the pea shoots. Add a big ladle of the broth and continue to cook, stirring frequently.
6. Place the rest of the pea shoots into a blender and pour the rest of the broth through a fine strainer into the pitcher as well. Blend on high until completely smooth.
7. Add the pureed broth into the pea mixture, and continue to cook on high heat until the peas and lettuce are soft and juicy.  Season to taste.
8. Ladle the soup into bowls, finish with thin slices of the Ricotta, a generous drizzle of olive oil, and an even more generous crack of black pepper.