It's that time of year again. Around about now, I find myself starting to nudge, nag and cajole pretty much anyone in earshot into growing some of their own fruit and veg – or, if they already grow some, into growing more. Andone thing I'm telling everyone to grow (if they're still listening) issorrel. It is quite possibly the easiestcrop in the world to raise (though really not that easy to buy). It's also one of my favourite leaves to eat and cook with in spring and early summer.
This bright green leaf is startlingly, puckeringly sour and lemony, but with a wonderful lightness: it tastes green, it tastes of spring. It's a generous and forgiving plant, both to the cook and to the gardener. Sorrel's spear-shaped leaves are among the first to unfurl themselves from the warming ground in February or March, and provide the perfect antidote to the hearty, earthy flavours of winter. Plant some yourself and it will give you an abundant harvest – it's the perfect first foray into growing your own food – and can function as a herb, a salad leaf or a vegetable, giving you either a thread of lemony flavour or a real, mouth-filling whack of it, depending on how much you use.
In larger quantities, sorrel's acidity requires a little tempering. However, since it adds such a lovely edge to creamy and delicately flavoured foods – everything from creme fraiche or oil to potatoes, pulses, eggs or chicken – that's really not aproblem. My default sorrel sauce, which you'll find in the poached egg recipe below, simply involves softening the leaf in a little butter and mixing it with a dash of cream. It's easy, delicious and versatile, and I use it a lot.
This leaf is easy to prepare: just wash it well and remove any tough stalks. Unless they are very small, the leaves are generally best shredded: roll them up first into fat "cigars", then slice them across thinly. Once shredded and added toa hot pan, sorrel wilts dramatically, rather like spinach (to which it is related). It also loses its bright green colour and quickly takes on a completely different hue – a dark brownish-green, ready for you to play "watch me eat acowpat", if you're in prankish mood. But don't be alarmed by the sludgy tone; the flavour remains asperky as you like.
Sorrel is, as I've said, a bit tricky to buy. Well, it's tricky to buy in fresh, zingy, tiptop condition anyway. Some greengrocers and even supermarkets sell it, but this commercially cultivated stuff is often forced in polytunnels, over-delicate and tender, and can lack that good, sharp edge. It's nice in salads, where you want only a hint of citrussy flavour, but will probably disappoint in a fully-fledged soup or risotto. If you are cooking with bought sorrel and you find it wants a bit more oomph, add a little lemon juice to help it along.
Sorrel is easy to raise from seed and, as a hardy perennial, will keep coming up year after year. However, young plants have the best flavour so I start my crop afresh each spring. Broad-leaved sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is the one I go for. French or buckler-leaf sorrel (R. scutatus) is a milder alternative with smaller leaves. It'sgreat for salads, but not abundant enough for cooking in quantity. Just sow the reddish-brown seeds in plug-trays filled with seed compost and keep warm and moist until they start to sprout. You can start them off in a greenhouse, polytunnel or windowsill, but transplant the seedlings outside once they are well established, protecting them from birds and other nibblers by keeping them under fleece or netting until big and strong. Harvest the leaves regularly and cut away any flower stalks theminute they appear, to ensure plenty of tender, leafy growth andacrop that will last right through the summer.
Sweet sorrel tart
This delicious pud does require a hefty bunch of sorrel, but the results are delicious: sorrel's lemony tang delicately cuts the sweet, soft-set custard. Serves eight to 10.
About 300g sorrel
Knob of butter, about 15g
2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks
200ml double cream
200ml whole milk
75g icing sugar
50g raisins
For the sweet shortcrust pastry
200g plain flour
35g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
125g cold, unsalted butter, cutintocubes
1 large egg yolk
About 75ml cold milk (or water)
Make the pastry first. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and blitz briefly to combine (or sieve into a bowl). Add the butter and blitz (or rub in with your fingertips) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk, and enough milk or water to bring it together into large clumps. Tip out on to a lightly floured surface and knead gently into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5 and put a baking sheet inside. Roll out the pastry to fit a24cm tart tin. Line the tin with the pastry, leaving the excess hanging over the edge. Prick all over with a fork and chill for 10 minutes more.
Line the pastry with greaseproof paper or foil, making sure the edges are covered, fill with baking beans or uncooked lentils or rice, and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, and cook for another five minutes, or until the pastry looks cooked but not browned. Leave to cool, then trim off the rough edges. Reduce the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4.
Remove any tough stalks from the sorrel. Wash the leaves, dry thoroughly and shred finely.
Heat half the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add half the sorrel and cook for afew minutes, stirring often, until collapsed and drastically reduced in volume. Transfer to a colander to cool. Repeat with the remaining sorrel. When cool, squeeze out the excess moisture with your hands.
In a wide bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, cream and milk. Sift in the icing sugar, whisk to dissolve, then stir in the raisins and wilted sorrel. Pour carefully into the prepared pastry case, using a fork to distribute the sorrel and raisins evenly. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until set and just golden. Leavetocool, and serve warm or at room temperature.
Creamed sorrel with poached egg on toast (V)
A simple sorrel sauce is hard to beat, and a great first recipe if you've not cooked with the leaf before. I love it as the base for a poached egg, but the same sauce, perhaps softened with a touch more cream, is delicious with fried or grilled fish, particularly oily ones; it's also good with fishcakes. Or try it as a dressing for a cold chicken and potato salad. Serves two.
1 egg yolk, plus 2 eggs for poaching
100g sorrel, tough stalks removed
30g butter, plus more for the toast
2 tbsp double cream or creme fraiche
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
A pinch of sugar
2 thick slices of bread
Bring a pan of water to a boil for the eggs. Meanwhile, roll up the sorrel leaves into "cigars" and shred finely.
Melt the butter in a small pan over a low heat. Add the sorrel and cook gently, turning it over from time to time, for a few minutes, until wilted. Add the cream or creme fraiche, and stir in to the sorrel until the whole thing is steaming hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat.
Let the sauce cool for a minute or so, then beat in the egg yolk. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar, and leave in the pan to keep warm.
As quick as you can, poach the eggs and toast the bread. Butter the toast, top with the warm sauce and finish with the eggs. Serve at once.
Lentil and sorrel soup (V)
Starchy red lentils make a nice foil tothe sorrel in this lovely soup. Serves two.
25g butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 stem celery, sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced
75g red lentils
500ml vegetable stock (or chicken stock, if youlike)
75-100g sorrel, coarse stems removed, leaves roughly shredded
1 tbsp double cream, plus a little extra to serve
Sea salt and freshly ground blackpepper
Melt half the butter in a saucepan over a low heat, add the onion, celery and carrot, cover and sweat gently, stirring from time to time, for about eight minutes, until the vegetables are slightly softened butnot coloured.
Stir in the lentils and stock, bring up to a simmer andcook on medium heat for about15 minutes, until both the vegetables and lentils are soft.
Ladle the soup into a blender along withthe raw sorrel, the remaining butter and the cream. Blend until smooth, adding a splash more stock or water if you feel the soup is too thick.
Reheat gently, taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, and serve in warmed bowlswith an extra little swirl of cream on top.
