With spring around the corner, I am making the most the last of the winter fruit and vegetables; the little bunches of purple sprouting broccoli, nets of blood oranges, stalks of apple-pink rhubarb, whole, knobbly roots and bitter winter leaves.

Roast celeriac and winter leaves

It takes patience to roast a whole celeriac – a large one can take more than two hours – but the result is delicious. The root can be sliced and dressed with a classic, mustardy vinaigrette or with some of the roasting juices seasoned with lemon juice and a little pepper.

Serves 4 as a side dish

celeriac about 1.5kg, whole

olive oil 3 tbsp

coriander seeds 1 tbsp

yellow mustard seeds 1 tbsp

sea salt 2 tsp

cumin seeds 2 tsp

pomegranate 1

For the salad

winter leaves such as trevise, radicchio, castelfranco

olive oil a little

lemon juice of ½

Set the oven at 180C/gas mark 4. Peel the celeriac, place it on a piece of tin foil and then into a roasting tin. The foil should be large enough to wrap the celeriac.

Mix together the olive oil, coriander and mustard seeds, salt and cumin with 6 good grinds of black pepper, then spoon over the celeriac. Pull the foil up around the sides of the celeriac and crunch it together at the top to seal.

Bake the celeriac for 2½ hours, occasionally opening up the foil, basting the root with the spiced oil and checking it for tenderness. When the celeriac is ready, a metal skewer should go right through the flesh with ease.

Halve the pomegranate, remove its seeds and place in a bowl, reserving any escaping juice. Pour the oil and spices from the celeriac over the pomegranate seeds, then add a little more olive oil and the lemon and pomegranate juices, tasting as you go. The dressing should be a good balance of sweet and sour and mildly spicy.

Dress the leaves with the spiced oil and pomegranate. Carve the celeriac into thin slices and add them to the leaves, pouring over any remaining dressing as you go.

Potato and ham hock salad

Potato and ham hock salad. Photograph: The Observer

Rather than use an olive oil or mayonnaise-based dressing, this salad is dressed with a puree of cauliflower. I like this salad best when the potatoes and ham are still warm.

Serves 4

smoked ham hock 1kg

black peppercorns 8

bay leaves 3

cauliflower 700g

salad potatoes 500g

butter 70g

double cream 100ml

pea shoots 40g

dill 2 tbsp, chopped

Put the ham into a deep saucepan and cover it with cold water. Bring to the boil, add the whole peppercorns and bay leaves, and lower the heat to a simmer. Partially cover the pan with a lid, leave for an hour, then remove from the heat, keeping the ham in its cooking liquor.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Break the cauliflower into large florets and trim any young leaves and stalks. Add salt to the water, then the cauliflower and its leaves and cook for 15 minutes or until completely tender. For once, it should be on the soft side.

Boil the potatoes until tender in deep, salted water. Remove the ham from its stock and tear into large pieces. Put the ham in a large mixing bowl.

Drain the potatoes, slice them in half lengthways, then add them to the ham. Drain the cauliflower then reduce to a puree in a blender with the butter and cream. Season with a little black pepper. Add the puree to the ham and toss gently, then fold in the pea shoots and the chopped dill. Check the seasoning and transfer to a large serving platter or bowl.

Purple sprouting broccoli, burrata and blood orange

Purple sprouting broccoli, burrata and blood orange. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/The Observer

The pairing of purple sprouting broccoli and blood oranges is one of the best of the season. You can squeeze the garnet-coloured juice into a dressing for steamed sprouting broccoli or use the grated zest in a hollandaise sauce to coat the spears. A favourite version includes tossing the brassica in a chive and parsley oil and eating it with a soft and milky cheese.

Serves 4

purple sprouting broccoli 8 stems

blood oranges 4

burrata 400g

For the herb oil

olive oil 200ml

chives 10g, roughly chopped

parsley leaves 5g

water a little

Bring a medium-sized saucepan of water to the boil. Trim the sprouting broccoli, discarding the end of each stem, then split them lengthways. Lower into the bubbling water, leave for 3 minutes, then remove with a draining spoon or tongs and drain on kitchen paper.

To make the oil, put the olive oil, chives, parsley leaves and a little salt and black pepper into a blender jug and process to a smooth vivid green dressing, adjusting the consistency with a little water as necessary. It should be the thickness of French dressing.

Using a very sharp knife, remove the peel from the blood oranges, taking care to remove all the white pith too. Slice the fruit thinly then divide between four plates. Tear or slice the burrata and place a couple of generously thick pieces on each plate, on top of the oranges.

Lift the broccoli, cut into manageable lengths if the stems are too long, into a mixing bowl, pour over the herb oil, then toss gently to coat each stem in the dressing. Place a few on each plate on top the burrata, then trickle over any remaining dressing and serve.

Roasted shallots, swede and pearl barley

Roasted shallots, swede and pearl barley. Photograph: The Observer

Swede deserves a better fate than to be chopped up and hidden among other roots in a stew. If it is seasoned carefully, and cooked till fully tender, the swede’s flavour is every bit as fine as parsnips or jerusalem artichokes. Here, it is roasted with shallots and rosemary then tossed with pearl barley.

Serves 2

shallots 6 small

swede 500g

garlic 6 cloves

olive oil 4 tbsp

rosemary 3 sprigs

pearl barley 250g

vegetable stock 1 litre

parsley leaves a large handful

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Peel the shallots, slice in half lengthways and put them in a roasting tin. Peel the swede, cut into large chip-sized pieces and add to the shallots. Peel the garlic and add to the swede. Pour the olive oil into the roasting tin, pull the leaves from the rosemary and add to the tin with salt and pepper, and toss everything together.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until the shallots and swede are tender. Warm the vegetable stock in a deep-sided saucepan, add the pearl barley and simmer for 30 minutes till tender but slightly chewy.

Drain the barley, then tip into the roasting tin, add the parsley and toss gently through the vegetables and the glossy, caramelised juices on the bottom of the pan.

Rhubarb, apple and sherry

Rhubarb, apple and sherry. Photograph: The Observer

I can’t get enough of the pale pink forced rhubarb around at the moment. It makes a fine breakfast when eaten with yogurt or included in a bircher muesli with grated apple and oats. For dessert, I like to replace the yogurt with softly whipped cream and a little sherry, giving a syllabub-like consistency, then introduce a little crispness with some coarsely grated green apple.

Serves 4

rhubarb 450g

orange 1 medium

caster sugar 95g

sweet sherry 3 tbsp

double cream 250ml

apples 2, green, sharp

Trim the rhubarb and cut into pieces about the length of a wine cork. Finely grate the zest of the orange. Put it into a non-reactive saucepan with the rhubarb and caster sugar, and cook over a low to moderate heat for 5-7 minutes until the sugar has melted and the rhubarb is soft and bright. Remove from the heat, then crush the rhubarb with a fork or the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the sherry and chill thoroughly.

Put the cream in a chilled mixing bowl and whisk until just thick enough to sit in soft mounds, rather than stiff enough to stand in peaks. Fold the cream into the chilled and crushed rhubarb then grate and stir in the apples. Serve chilled with a little more orange zest grated over the top.