Summer Vegetable Stew

Ingredients:

4 large globe artichokes
juice of 1/2 lemon
200g Swiss chard
250g fine asparagus spears
100g fine (French) beans, topped and tailed
salt, to taste
4 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
25g plain flour
1/2 tsp caster sugar
350g shelled peas (fresh are best)
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Begin by preparing the artichoke bases. Using a serrated knife cut the stems off the artichokes close to the bases (discard these). Now cut off the leafy top half and using a smaller knife slice the tough outer leaves from the base (work your way around the artichoke as you do so) until you have revealed the pale, inner, leaves. Slice these pale leaves away from the base and remove the hairy chokes from the centre.

Finish by scraping away any strands of choke still adhering with a teaspoon. Drop the round bases into a small bowl of water that's been acidulated with the lemon juice (this will prevent them from going black).

Now prepare the remaining vegetables. Strip the leaves from the Swiss chard and cut the stalks into 5cm lengths then tear the leaves into medium-sized pieces. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus spears and discard then cut the asparagus spears across into three pieces each. Cut the beans in half.

In a large pan, bring 1.5l water and 1 tsp salt to a boil then add the artichoke bases and cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Lift these out with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool before cutting each one across into four thick slices. Add the green beans to the water remaining in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Lift them out into a colander to drain then refresh under cold running water.

Add the Swiss chard stems to the water and cook for 3 minutes then lift these out into the colander and then refresh under cold running water (reserve the left-over cooking water).

Heat the olive oil in a shallot flameproof casserole dish set over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 6 minutes, or until soft but not browned. Scatter over the flour and stir in to combine. Gradually mix in 600ml of the vegetable cooking water along with the sugar then bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes then stir in the peas and Swiss chard leaves. Cook for 3 minutes more then add the cooked vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes, or until the peas are tender.

Adjust the seasoning to taste, then serve.