Servings: 4

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 heaped tablespoons of sunflower seeds

1 unwaxed lemon

half a large butter lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 young, firm courgettes

50 grams unsalted butter

150 grams fresh goat's curd (or other very soft cheese)

leaves from 2 sprigs of mint, sliced into ribbons at the last minute

handful of edible flowers, such as nasturtiums, borage flowers, chive flowers, marigold petals (optional)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Place the sunflower seeds in a small dry frying pan and toast over a medium heat for several

minutes, tossing frequently, until golden. Tip out and set aside.

2. Pare the zest off the lemon using one of those clever little zesters which produces tiny ribbons

of zest. If you don't have one of these, use a vegetable peeler to pare off lozenges of zest, taking care to avoid the bitter white pith, then slice these crossways as finely as you can.

3. Place the lettuce leaves in a wide bowl and tear any large ones into several pieces. Very gently toss with the olive oil, a tablespoon of lemon juice and some salt and pepper, just until the leaves are lightly coated.

4. Use a vegetable peeler to shave off long fine ribbons from the courgettes, working top to tail. Stop when you reach the spongy core and rotate the courgette to do the next side. Work like this all around the courgettes until only the cores are left. These can be donated to the compost heap.

5. Melt the butter in a wide frying pan over medium heat. Add the courgette ribbons with a good pinch of salt and toss in the hot butter for a couple of minutes until bright green and just starting to soften. The idea is not to cook them, so this won't take long at all.