Hundreds of aspiring young chefs enter national reci-pea competition

Ten children from across the UK have been selected as finalists in the 2016 Young Pea Chef of the Year competition, a national recipe competition which challenged children aged under 12 to develop a delicious recipe using peas.

The Yes Peas! campaign, run by the British Growers Association, joined forces with Waitrose to launch the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition, which received hundreds of entries from children across the UK in its inaugural year. 

A panel of industry experts, including TV chef Rachel Green, Waitrose Frozen Foods Buying Manager, Michael Simpson-Jones, and representatives from Birds Eye and Pinguin Foods, deliberated and tasted their way through the entries to shortlist just ten pea-inspired recipes.

Finalists hail from Aberdeen to Wiltshire, Skegness to Wokingham, and recipes include Easy Pea-sy Naans, Peas in Blankets, Mini Pea Pesto Pizzas, Pea and Potato Bites with a Pea and Mint Dip, Pea Sausage Rolls, Pea Hamburgers, Pea Pepperoni & Ricotta Cheese Ravioli, Pea Pie, Pea and Mint Cake and Pea and Mint Ice Cream.

The next stage of the competition calls upon the public to show their support and vote for their favourite recipe. The young chef with the most votes will be crowned Young Pea Chef of the Year 2016 and will win £500 worth of cooking equipment for their school from competition sponsor, Waitrose. All ten finalists will feature in a recipe e-book which will be distributed nationwide and available to download.

TV chef and Yes Peas! campaign ambassador, Rachel Green, said: “The level of entries we received from children across the country was outstanding and we’re delighted so many schools and families took the time to get creative in the kitchen and cook up their pea inspired recipes.

“Peas are incredibly nutritious and versatile and we hope that the competition will inspire many British children to see peas as an exciting and tasty ingredient. We’d like to congratulate all the finalists and wish them the best of luck in the final”.

8 year old Leo Hall, from Cottenham Village College, was selected as a finalist for his Mini Pea Pesto Pizza recipe. He said; “I love pizza! So I wanted to do something with pizzas and had an idea to substitute the tomato sauce with pea pesto. I used muffin bases so it would be simple for children to make. I'd like to have my own restaurant when I'm older and I think these could be on my starter menu."

Michael Simpson-Jones, Waitrose Frozen Food Buying Manager, said: “We’re thrilled to be sponsoring the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition in its inaugural year – we were blown away by the number of entries we received and it was a tough challenge selecting just ten worthy finalists. We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to enter and wish our finalists best of luck in the next stage of the competition.”

To vote, all people need to do is visit the Yes Peas! Facebook page where they will find information on all the finalists and their pea-inspired recipes – www.facebook.com/YesPeas
To find out more, visit www.youngpeachef.co.uk

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