My signature pea and mint paté

This is my favourite thing that I have made this year. It's an incredibly versatile recipe - it works really well as a starter (on some toasted ciabatta with a few rocket leaves) and as a canapé (on little crostini). I always make too much, but that's ok because it also makes an incredible pasta sauce - just stir it into some al dente spaghetti. I originally found the recipe here and have since been making it my own! It was a particular hit at the rainbow party as our 'green' offering.

Ingredients

1 cup frozen peas (or however many you want really)

Vegetable stock cube

1 tub marscapone cheese

Chilli powder

Salt

Bunch of fresh mint

Little crostini - you can usually buy these in supermarkets

How to

1) Boil your peas in a saucepan, crumbling in your vegetable stock. Cook until the peas are just soft (should only take a few minutes).

2) Finely chop your mint, removing the tougher stalks. In my opinion, for this recipe (or in general) there's no such thing as 'too much mint'.

3) Put half your tub of marscapone into a mixing bowl - this probably means a couple of good dollops.

4) Strain your peas and add to the mixing bowl with the marscapone, along with the mint. Sprinkle over a dousing of chilli powder and a dash of salt and mix it all together. Use a hand blender to whizz it all up into a paste. I think it's nicer if it's not completely smooth, so stop when you can still see a few pea shells etc. Add more chilli/mint/marscapone to taste.

5) Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for at least a couple of hours. This is important because your marscapone will have melted with the heat of the peas.

6) Spread a generous layer of pea paté onto each crostini. Sprinkle them all with a sparing amount of chilli. Eat most of them before you offer them to your guests because they're just so delicious...