Barbequed Peas with Dill and Lemon Whipped Butter

As our grandmother Ivy always said, late spring produce needs little intervention when its at its best. Seasonal peas in their pods are great for charring, turning sweet and slightly smoky as they cook.

We love this technique for whipping our butter, which increases its volume and creates an airy mixture that is perfect for dipping vegetables into or spreading on delicate breads. A modern take on a classic, we believe Ivy would approve.

For the butter

100g Ivy’s Reserve Salted Butter, at room temperature

Zest of a lemon

A few sprigs of dill, leaves picked and chopped

Black pepper

For the peas

300g peas in their pods

Olive oil, for drizzling

Flaky salt, for seasoning

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and grate over the lemon zest. Use an electric whisk to whip the butter, scraping down the sides and whisk attachments a few times until the mixture is airy and has increased in volume by at least 1/3, about 5 minutes. Stir through the dill and black pepper, and whip again for a minute longer. Cover and set aside in a cool place whilst you cook the peas.

Heat a BBQ or griddle pan over a high heat and while you wait for it to heat, drizzle enough oil over the peas to coat them and season with flaky salt.

To test the heat of the BBQ, throw a teaspoon of water over the top. When it sizzles, steams and disappears within a few seconds, it’s ready to cook. Allowing the pea pods plenty of space for turning and charring, arrange on the griddle pan or bbq (this can be tricky if you have wide gaps between the grills, so you may wish to char them in a cast iron pan set over the BBQ in this case).

Cook the peas for 3 minutes on one side, until blistered and charred in places, then use tongs to turn them over and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.

When the pods are noticeably softer and charred on both sides, remove the BBQd peas to a serving platter and spoon on a heaped dessert spoonful of the butter for dipping, adding a pinch of salt over the butter – you will have extra butter which, in our minds, is never a bad thing!

Serve immediately, scraping the pods through your teeth to extract the peas.

‍

Any extra whipped butter can be stored in the fridge for up to a week and is great over new potatoes, white fish, or asparagus.