Cooking Techniques 22 Seasonal Recipes to Make This Spring By Food & Wine Editors Updated on April 8, 2020 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Eva Kolenko Asparagus and peas, radishes and artichokes, ramps — spring is an exciting time to be in the kitchen, and these recipes will help you make use of what's in season. Think ricotta toasts paired with the grassy, slightly sweet taste of fava beans, and garganelli pasta covered with a garlicky scallion cream sauce. As for dessert? You'll have to read on to find out. 01 of 22 Pizza with Garlic Cream and Nettles Fredrika Stjärne You can use either green garlic or scallions for the garlic cream, and feel free to use baby arugula instead of nettles, too. Get the Recipe 02 of 22 Spinach-and-Green-Pea Empanadas Fredrika Stjärne Mauricio Couly uses a mix of spinach, fava beans, green beans and a good amount of mint. He makes his own paprika-spiced empanada dough; store-bought empanada wrappers (available in the freezer section of many supermarkets and specialty food stores) work well, too. Get the Recipe 03 of 22 Spring Vegetable Stew © Anna Williams When fresh fava beans are available, use them in place of the cranberry beans. Get the Recipe 04 of 22 Roasted Radishes with Radish Greens Gerard Craft came up with this clever recipe one year when his local farmer had an abundance of radishes. Craft tried roasting them. The result: warm, crisp-tender radishes with delightfully bitter greens, which he finishes with butter and lemon. Get the Recipe 05 of 22 Garlic-Rubbed Pork Shoulder with Spring Vegetables © Tina Rupp Pork shoulder is often braised or smoked, but Andrew Green rubs it with garlic and herbs, then slow-roasts the meat until it's juicy and crusty. Get the Recipe 06 of 22 Short Ribs with Mushrooms and Spring Vegetables To layer the flavors in this dish, chef Rory Herrmann marinates beef short ribs and vegetables in red wine overnight, then uses the marinade in the braise as well. Spring vegetables help lighten the rich stew. Get the Recipe 07 of 22 Spring Panzanella with Asparagus Recipes for panzanella (a Florentine bread salad popular in the summer) typically call for tomatoes, but in the spring, Mike Lata prefers using seasonal ingredients like asparagus and radishes. Get the Recipe 08 of 22 Morel-and-Asparagus Salad with Frisée and Butter Lettuce © Lisa Linder This light, simple salad highlights poached morels and asparagus with a combination of frisée and butter lettuces. Get the Recipe 09 of 22 Beer-Braised Chicken Stew with Fava Beans and Peas © John Kernick Paul Kahan is a big fan of chicken thighs because they have so much flavor and are so inexpensive—the best of both worlds. He braises the thighs in beer to make an excellent spring stew that he (naturally) pairs with more beer, such as Pere Jacques from Chicago's Goose Island Beer Company, a Belgian-style ale full of caramelized malt flavors. Get the Recipe 10 of 22 Pea Consommé with Mint This delicate broth is full of vitamin C, thanks to the pea pods Jeremy Fox simmers. (Snow peas are just as delicious and easier to find.) He tops the consommé with shards of white chocolate because he likes the way it brings out the peas' sweetness while adding only a little fat. Get the Recipe 11 of 22 Spring Lettuce Salad with Roasted Asparagus This top-rated salad from Amber Huffman combines mixed spring lettuces, Parmigiano-Reggiano, asparagus, and a simple dressing. Get the Recipe 12 of 22 Sautéed Radishes with Orange Butter Emeril Lagasse sautés radishes and their greens with bacon, shallots and orange juice until they're perfectly crisp-tender. Get the Recipe 13 of 22 Spiced Rhubarb Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream Lucy Schaeffer This silky fruit dessert is delicious on its own or topped with vanilla ice cream. Just be sure to only barely cook the rhubarb, so that it retains its crispness — and plenty of tangy flavor. Get the Recipe 14 of 22 Fava Bean Pasta e Fagioli © Paul Costello Chef Mike Lata's spring version of pasta e fagioli, the Italian soup, uses fresh fava beans in place of borlotti or cannellini beans, along with meaty bits of bacon and a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Get the Recipe 15 of 22 Farro Salad with Radishes, Snap Peas, Olives, and Pecorino Eva Kolenko Farro has a sweet, earthy flavor and delightful chewy texture; it adds a wonderful hardiness to the fresh, crunchy vegetables and salty olives and cheese in this salad. If Meyer lemons aren't available in your area, use regular fresh lemon juice and increase the honey to balance the dressing. Get the Recipe 16 of 22 Strawberry-Buttermilk Cobbler Eva Kolenko A mixture of spelt and almond flours, gently combined with cold butter and creamy buttermilk, creates tender, fluffy biscuits that cover this juicy strawberry cobbler filling. Use the sweetest, best-quality berries from the market; their flavor is the foundation of this seasonal dessert. Get the Recipe 17 of 22 Roasted Baby Artichokes with Parsley and Mint Eva Kolenko Removing the outer leaves and inner thistle of each baby artichoke reveals its lightly astringent, mildly sweet core, tender enough for quick cooking. Be careful to wash your cutting board and knife well after preparing the baby artichokes as they can leave behind a bitter residue. Get the Recipe 18 of 22 Ricotta-Fava Toasts Eva Kolenko The delicate, milky flavor of fresh ricotta pairs with the grassy, lightly sweet taste of fava beans. Use best-quality cheese, produce, and bread here for a toast that's more than the sum of its parts. Get the Recipe 19 of 22 Rhubarb-and-Currant Mostarda Victor Protasio This slightly sweet mostarda gets plenty of gentle heat and acid from dry mustard, mustard seeds, and red wine vinegar. Dried black currants plump up as they absorb the liquid, providing a juicy bite. Get the Recipe 20 of 22 Garganelli with Speck, Peas, and Scallion Cream Victor Protasio Sweet spring peas and garlicky sauce flood tubular garganelli pasta, making each bite a surprise. Substitute penne if you can't find garganelli, and don't skip the lemon and mint at the end, which bring balance to the dish. Get the Recipe 21 of 22 Roasted Asparagus and Mushrooms Eva Kolenko A drizzle of syrupy aged balsamic balances the earthiness of the mushrooms and slight char on the asparagus. Get the Recipe 22 of 22 Wine-Poached Strawberries and Apricots Victor Protasio Semi-dry Riesling, which is refreshing and not too sweet, is the secret to this impressive, balanced dessert. Dried apricots lend a gentle bitterness while the strawberries add sweetness and impart the rosiest color. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit