Extracted from The Food for Life Cookbook by Tim Spector (Jonathan Cape, £28). All photography by Issy Croker.

That bag of peas in the back of your freezer finally gets its time to shine in these delicious savoury herby pea pancakes, adding protein and fibre to your morning meal. Frozen peas typically have more vitamin C than fresh, while the cottage cheese adds extra protein, slowing your blood sugar response. Top with a poached egg for a satisfying brunch, or use any leftover batter to make a great light lunch, served with a side salad.

INGREDIENTS – Makes 4

120g cottage cheese
1 medium egg
200g frozen peas
50g wholemeal spelt flour Zest of 1 lemon
60g mix of green herbs (e.g. mint, basil), roughly chopped
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Top-ups

Yoghurt
Boiled egg
Chilli oil

Swaps

Silken tofu for cottage cheese
Wholemeal flour for spelt flour
Flax egg for egg

METHOD

1. Put the cottage cheese and egg into a blender and blitz until smooth. Add most of the peas and blitz again until almost smooth but retaining some texture.

2. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the flour, lemon zest, herbs, spring onions, remaining peas and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until combined – if the batter seems too thick, add up to 3 tablespoons of water to reach a spoonable consistency.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, drop 2 generous spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan to form pancakes. Cook for 2 minutes on each side until golden.