Latest news with #peas
BBC News
06-08-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Birds Eye quality manager eats 32 plates of peas a day
Do you have a food that you don't think you'd ever get tired of eating? Well, meet Michelle Lawrie, who eats around 32 plates of peas... EVERY DAY! It's part of her job, working as a quality manager for a food company, but she loves peas so much, that she even has more for tea when she goes says she checks the peas for three things, their colour, taste and wants the peas to be a "vibrant" green, taste sweet, and feel "tender" rather than "pasty".Michelle is certainly a pea expert, but if you had to eat a food every day, what would it be and why? Let us know in the comments... According to Michelle, the weather has a big impact on how peas taste, saying:"The sweetness depends on the weather. This year in particular we've had a lot of sun so the peas are very, very sweet this year - exceptionally so."Michelle thinks the food she gets to eat every day is pea-licious, but what food would you be an expert in?Do you know the best colour, taste and texture of your fave food?What food would you most like to taste test? Would it be a fruit, maybe something unhealthy like chocolate or cake?Or, maybe even something more unusual? Let us know in the comments below...
Daily Mail
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Why we could all be desperate for a pea! Shortage fears as heatwave hits harvest of one of Britain's favourite vegetables
When it comes to the nation's favourite vegetable, only peas can go head to head with potatoes in the popularity stakes. So brace yourself for a shock – the heatwaves that so delighted sun-worshippers this year have been a disaster for the British pea harvest. Farmers fear there will be a shortage in supermarket freezers after consistently dry weather resulted in the earliest harvest in 14 years. In fact, the volume of picked and processed peas has fallen by up to 30 per cent this year. However, while poor yields might be bad news for farmers in the pea-growing regions of East Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, the balmy weather means those peas that do make it to dinner plates are likely to be sweeter than usual. Birds Eye quality manager Michelle Lawrie said the sweetness of the crop 'depends on the weather', adding: 'This year in particular we've had a lot of sun, so the peas are very, very sweet this year – exceptionally so.' The pea harvest normally begins in the middle of June and continues until the end of August, but Ian Watson, operations manager for Stemgold Peas in Lincolnshire, said it started on June 4 this year. He added: 'We've seen challenges right from the start of the season – soils have been very dry, very hard, very difficult to work. 'We're seeing very, very thin crops. They're not going to yield.' The company works with more than 3,500 farms across Lincolnshire, but Mr Watson said the crops had been so stressed by the weather that the number of peas in a pod had dropped. He said that while there would normally be up to ten, many pods contain just 'two big round peas and the rest have shrivelled up and died'. He added: 'In some instances, we're going to lose crops. It's not just here. They're finding the same further south into Norfolk and east Suffolk.' As well as damaging growth, the heat and lack of rain have boosted the bugs that attack pea pods, such as the pea moth and bruchid beetle. Henry Moreton, a regional chairman of the National Farmers' Union in Lincolnshire, said crops had been 'drying out and dying because of the extreme heat and the lack of moisture'. He added: 'I've never known the viners go out so early. British peas will be in short supply this year. Unless the rain does something amazing or there's a really good end to the season, we are going to look at shortages.'
The Independent
30-07-2025
- Climate
- The Independent
Pea shortage looms after earliest harvest in 14 years
Farmers fear there could be a shortage of British peas in supermarkets after the UK suffered its driest spring in more than a century. Long spells of sunshine in recent months, including three heatwaves, as well as record-breaking dry weather has prompted the earliest harvest of peas in Britain in 14 years. The National Farmers Union says the weather has caused vining pea growers across Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and East Yorkshire to suffer up to a 30 per cent drop in the number of peas picked and processed this year. Henry Moreton, a regional NFU chair in Lincolnshire, told the BBC: 'The east coast is your primary vining pea land. It's all good, well drained land that peas like to grow on. But it's not looking good at the moment. I've never known the viners go out so early. 'The British peas will be in short supply this year but, unless the rain does something really amazing or unless there's a really good end to the season, we are going to look at shortages.' One pea grower in Louth said they started their harvest this year in early June, a fortnight or so before the usual start of the season. The crops are said to be so stressed by the dry weather that the number of peas in a pod has dropped by more than half in some cases. The drought has meant that the peas are maturing at a faster rate than the growers are able to harvest. This means some of the produce has shrivelled up and died by the time the growers go to pick it. The remainder of the produce is proving to be very sweet, according to a Birds Eye quality manager, Michelle Lawrie. The Met Office says England suffered its driest spring in more than a century this year followed by the warmest June ever recorded.
Telegraph
23-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Six ways to transform frozen peas into easy feasts – and even a cake
The emeralds of the vegetable world are easily the most useful frozen vegetable. What's more, because peas are frozen so quickly after picking, they retain their flavour, texture, colour and nutritional value. In my humble opinion, frozen is best. Unless, of course, you're able to pick them straight from the garden immediately before cooking, while they're still tender and sweet. The fresh peas that grace supermarket shelves are usually too old to compare favourably to their frozen counterparts. There are generally two types of frozen pea that you'll find in the shops: garden peas and petit pois. Garden peas are the classic choice, picked at their peak to give a delightfully sweet, green, tender sphere. They're podded and graded, with the best ones being selected for freezing. They then travel through a tunnel and are cryogenically frozen using liquid nitrogen to freeze them individually and quickly. Petits pois can be a separate cultivar or they can be the same variety of pea as those sold as garden peas but, as the name suggests to those who have studied a little French, they are smaller. This is because they're picked earlier, before full maturity, which gives a sweeter flavour and a more tender skin. They're frozen in the same way as garden peas. It's easy to relegate peas to simply a veg spooned on the side of a main meal, but they really are incredibly versatile. They also don't have to be merely stirred through a dish as an afterthought. Easy to whizz into a smooth purée, they can make a simple sauce more animated; or blitz them briefly to incorporate into cakes and other bakes. Mashing also works nicely (you can crush them with your fingers, which I find super-satisfying) as an alternative to finely chopping or to break them down a little – this isn't always necessary but I find they sometimes combine better with other ingredients this way. That said, when in their full spherical form, there's something satisfying about biting through them; the texture and the flavour really make the pea one of the best vegetables out there. While peas aren't always the lead ingredient in a recipe, much like Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love, Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada and Octavia Spencer in The Help, they do have the ability to steal the show even though they're supporting a bigger star. It's why I love them; you know they'll always bring something to the party.
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Ricotta, pea and pesto tart
One of the recipes from my first book, The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook, that drew people in was the tomato, cheddar and pesto tart – it's incredibly simple to make and such a crowd-pleaser. This is a similar dish, though a completely different flavour and a much fresher vibe thanks to the peas and lemon. Overview Prep time 15 mins Cook time 35 mins Serves 4 to 6 Ingredients 1 x 320g packet ready-rolled puff pastry 150-200g frozen peas 250g ricotta 1 egg Zest and juice of ½ lemon 4 tbsp Genovese basil pesto Method Step Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6. Step Unroll 1 x 320g packet ready-rolled puff pastry and lay it on a non-stick baking tray. Score along each side of the pastry, around 3cm in from the edges, to create a border – take care not to cut all the way through the pastry. Prick inside the border all over with a fork. Step Bake in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes or until light golden brown and puffed up. Step While the pastry cooks, tip 150g peas into a heatproof bowl – if you'd like to scatter some whole peas over the top for decoration, use 200g. Pour freshly boiled water over the peas and leave for 2 minutes to defrost, and then drain. Step Put 150g of the peas, 175g of the ricotta, 1 egg, and the zest and juice of ½ lemon into a blender with a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Step Pulse until combined and the peas have broken down a little – you can go as chunky as you like here. Step Remove the pastry from the oven and, using a spoon or fork, push down the puffed pastry inside the border to create a pastry case. Step Spread the pea and ricotta mixture over the centre of the pastry case – it's easier to start from the outside and work your way in. Return the tart to the hot oven for 8 minutes.
