Mange Tout

The peas have been a disaster this year. I think it must have been the seeds themselves because I have had no trouble with beans or mange tout. I planted the peas in two separate places and a total of three plantings (or sowings I suppose) and only about twenty came up at all (about 10 per cent so not good) and the crop on those has been bad.

The Mange Tout however are brilliant. They are growing so fast and producing so much that it's hard to keep up. Feast indeed but how to preserve them? Freezing isn't ideal but it does appear to be the only way so I did an experiment and we ate the result last night.

Basically I blanched them for 30 seconds and then left them to dry slightly in the colander. Into the plastic bag and into the freezer as quickly as possible. I only put in a small amount - enough for two people or three at a pinch. To use them I put them straight from the freezer into boiling water and just gave them another 30 seconds before removing into the colander.

There is no doubt that they were not as good as fresh mange tout. However they weren't bad as a side vegetable. By that I mean I wouldn't use them as decoration around a piece of duck but they tasted delicious. They were only in the freezer for 48 hours so perhaps they would lose more flavour or break down more if they were there longer. We'll see - I have so many that freezing will be a necessity.