Spring Toast

An easy way to get all the spring flavors you want onto one delicious plate

I’m always ravenous for spring. As soon as the first peas and delicate shoots appear in the market, all I want to do is pile as many of them onto my plate as possible. It might still be cold and rainy outside most days, but in my kitchen, I can luxuriate in the freshness and tenderness of the flavors of a new year while I wait for the sunshine.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll make all kinds of springy meals—my pastas, risottos, lunch salads, eggs, and even soups will be chock full of peas, sweet peas, and pea greens; favas, asparagus, green garlic, fresh lettuces; and anything else I can get my hands on. But really, the most satisfying spring meal I can think of is a simple toast topped with ricotta and a medley of vegetables with some fresh herbs (and maybe some pretty, edible flowers). This is also the quickest and easiest way I know to prepare these vegetables, because I only need to shell, blanch, and prep a small handful of each ingredient. (It’s also the most affordable, for the same reason.)

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The key to this toast is the ricotta. It holds everything in place, including those round peas; just press them gently into the cheese and they won’t roll away when you take a bite. I like to use really good ricotta (I splurged on Bellwether for this toast, because it’s really rich and flavorful this time of year), and I keep the seasoning minimal so that the cheese adds a light, cream-forward note but lets the flavors of the vegetables really shine through.

If you want to prep things ahead of time, you can slice the radish and sweet peas and store them wrapped in wet paper towels in the refrigerator, then pre-blanch the favas and peas (reheat them in the pan with the shallot, just as it’s done cooking).

You can also top this toast with any other spring ingredients you’re particularly craving: You can add thin slices of raw asparagus, cook the shallot with some green garlic, or tuck in some pretty pea greens. As long as it’s bright and seasonal, it will taste good here.

Fava trick: If I have a range of different-sized beans (which is pretty inevitable with favas), I keep them somewhat separated as I shell them, then add the largest beans to the pot first, followed by the medium and then the small, 1–2 minutes apart.

Spring Toast

Makes 1 toast

Small handful fava beans (from 1–2 pods)
Small handful English peas (from 3–4 pods)
1/2 small shallot
1–2 breakfast radishes
2–3 sweet peas
1 long, thick slice of rustic bread, such as a boule or a pane Siciliano
4–6 tablespoons good-quality ricotta
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
Lemon to zest, ideally Meyer
Fresh herbs, such as parsley and mint (and cilantro flowers)
Edible flower petals (optional)

1. In a small pot, blanch the fava beans for 3–5 minutes, depending on size. Remove them using a slotted spoon or a perforated scoop and transfer them to an ice bath. Add the peas to the pot and boil them for 2–3 minutes, then add them to the ice bath. Peel off the favas’ skins (unless your beans are young and small.)

2. Cut the shallot into thin slices and sauté in a small pan in just a bit of butter; you want them to soften, not frizzle, so keep the temperature low. Use a mandolin to cut the radishes into very thin rounds, and cut the sweet peas into thin rounds, slicing at an angle for slightly more oblong shapes.

3. Toast the bread. While it’s toasting, put the ricotta into a small bowl and season it with salt and pepper.

4. Spread a thick layer of ricotta onto the toast. Top with the radishes, sweet peas, favas, cooked peas, and shallot. You can mound them all together or arrange them like a garden—I like the second approach, even though it’s more time-consuming, because each bite is a little different (and it’s so pretty!).

5. Grate some zest onto everything, then add some herbs; tiny leaves can be added whole, but large leaves (particularly mint) should be very thinly sliced. Garnish the toast with flower petals, if using.

Photos: Georgia Freedman