Sprouting broccoli

Now that we have had the first flush of warm weather, sprouting broccoli will be coming into its own. Waste no time and make the most of this delicacy.

According to Pliny, the Romans were eating sprouting broccoli in the 1st Century A.D. and were no doubt reaping the benefits of its rich source of vitamins A and B. It was not known in this country until the 1720s, when Stephen Switzer popularised foreign kitchen vegetables, on which he wrote a pamphlet extolling the virtues of celeriac and Florentine fennel as well. ‘In my humble opinion,' he declared sprouting broccoli, ‘next to the true asparagus'. (Switzer designed gardens for the aristocracy as well as running a successful seed business.)

In Roman times, sprouting broccoli was sold in elegant bunches rather than the loose, untidy boxes that we now see in our green grocers. However, its presentation alone should not detract us from buying this wonderful vegetable, which when at its freshest, is comparable to asparagus.

Cook as you would asparagus. The stalks are edible but test them by pressing your thumb into the stalk. If it goes in easily, you can eat it. If not, trim the stalks back. Tie in bundles and stand upright in a metal basket in a saucepan and steam in one to two inches of water for about three minutes. Serve with hollandaise sauce. Jane Grigson recommends serving it with other spring vegetables such as mange tout, cauliflower and potatoes and hollandaise.

Lynda Brown recommends tossing pine nuts and raisins in olive oil until the nuts have browned and the raisins have filled out. Scatter over steamed shoots. Or go one step further and try our recipe. Everything needs to be cooked at the same time but it will only take about five minutes to cook it and bring it to the table.

Sprouting broccoli with scallops and noodles

Serves four

500g sprouting broccoli
16 scallops
250g of thread egg noodles
Soy sauce and lemon juice

1. Trim the scallops of muscle and rinse. Pat dry.
2. Prepare sprouting broccoli and tie in bundles and steam for two to three minutes in boiling salted water.
3. Heat some olive oil in a pan and quickly cook scallops for three minutes in total, turning once.
4. Cook noodles as per instructions and drain. Thread egg noodles only take about three minutes to cook. (If you use another type of noodle, do check the cooking time and start cooking them earlier if needs be.) Add the liquor from the pan, soy sauce and a squeeze of lemon. Use your tastebuds here. Remember to season.
5. Arrange the noodles and sprouting broccoli on warmed plates and top with the scallops. Pour over any surplus jus.