Add root vegetables simply roasted with garlic and rosemary, and you have a feast of flavour to herald the beginning of spring. Spring cabbages are full of flavour during March – try shredding and lightly steaming them, serving them lightly buttered and topped with toasted cashew nuts.

Fruit stalls still continue to provide a colourful display of citrus fruits, and fresh pineapples are good value this month too.

So although March can be a bitterly cold month, and sometimes deceptively mild, it's the end of winter and the beginning of spring. A time to make the most of what this month has to offer in our local shops and markets, and we start this month with a delicious lamb dish, which is one of my favourite recipes, with a Pineapple Meringue dessert to follow.


Lamb in lemon sauce
Serves 4-6

The taste of lemon and herbs coming through the creamy sauce makes an excellent combination.


Ingredients: 700g (1½ lb) shoulder or leg of lamb cut into 2.5cm (1") cubes. 25g (1 oz) oil. 50g (2 oz) unsmoked gammon chopped.1 onion peeled and chopped. 2 tbsp flour, salt and pepper.

For the sauce: 4 tbsp dry white wine. 300ml (½ pt) light stock (lamb cube is okay). 2 egg yolks. 2 tbsp lemon juice. ½ tsp finely grated lemon zest. 1 tsp chopped marjoram. 1 tbsp chopped parsley.

Method: Heat oil in heavy pan, add gammon, lamb and onion and fry gently for 10 mins. Sprinkle in the flour and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add wine, bring back to the boil, and boil until reduced by half. Add stock and again bring back to the boil, stirring. Cover and simmer for 45 mins. or until lamb is tender. Skin off any surface fat. In a bowl beat together the egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and herbs. Add 3 tbsp of the cooking liquor and blend well. Add to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens (do not boil). Serve with noodles or new potatoes.


Pineapple Meringue
Serves 4

This recipe makes a change from the more traditional lemon meringue pie, and its low in calories – if you are counting!

Ingredients: 1 pineapple. 1 eating apple, chopped. 1 small tin grapefruit segments. Almond flakes. 2 egg whites and 4 tbsp caster sugar. Method: Scoop out half the pineapple and mix with the other fruits. Whisk egg whites and fold in sugar. Fill the halved pineapple with fruit and pile the meringue on top. Sprinkle on the almond flakes and bake for 15 mins. at 180C, 350F, Gas mark 3.


Raspberry Pavlova
Serves 6-8

A perfect pudding to welcome the arrival of spring on the 21st March!

Ingredients: 4 egg whites. ½ tsp vanilla essence. 1 tsp corn flour. 225g (8oz) frozen raspberries (thawed). 225g (8 oz) caster sugar. 1 tsp vinegar. 25g (1 oz) flaked almonds. 300ml (½ pint) whipped cream.

Method: Draw a 20.5cm (8 inch) circle on non-stick paper and place on a baking tray. Whisk egg whites until stiff and standing in peaks. Beat in sugar, 1 tbsp at a time. Fold in vanilla essence, vinegar and corn flour. Spoon meringue mixture over the round on the non-stick paper, making a slight hollow in centre. Bake in preheated oven 130C, 250F, Gas Mk ½ for 1 hour or until firm. Leave to cool. Then carefully remove non-stick paper, place on a serving plate and fill the hollow with the whipped cream and thawed raspberries, sprinkle with flaked almonds.