Simple Minted Summer Peas

• 700 g (1 lb 9 oz) small young peas in their pods
• 75

A delicious recipe for the first of the summer peas, served in their cooking juices with fresh mint. This recipe is adopted from a late-eighteenth-century one and I think it is still one of the nicest ways to serve this delicate vegetable.

Shell the peas and place in a saucepan with the butter, lettuce, spring onions, mint sprigs and water. Season with salt and pepper and add the sugar.