Yes peas! Schoolboy cooks up a treat with ingredients beginning with the letter P (and he's provided the recipe, too)

Billy Evans, a pupil at Haddenham Junior School, is one of ten finalists in with a chance of being crowned the UK’s Young Pea Chef of the Year 2016, a national recipe competition which challenged children aged 4-12 to develop a delicious recipe using peas.

The nine year old turned the challenge on its head by using as many ingredients as possible beginning with the letter P.

The Yes Peas! campaign, which represents the UK’s pea vining sector, joined forces with Waitrose to launch the Young Pea Chef of the Year competition which received hundreds of entries from children across the UK.

Billy’s recipe for ‘P’ Pie beat off hundreds of hopefuls to be selected as one of the final ten by a panel of judges, including TV chef Rachel Green, Waitrose Frozen Foods Buying Manager, Michael Simpson-Jones, and representatives from Birds Eye and Pinguin Foods.

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.

Billy said: “I wanted to make something with ingredients, seasonings and pastry which mostly begin with the letter ‘P’ and which was fun and enjoyable to make. I think it turned out well.”

His father, Tony Evans, added: “Good luck to him and his school. When I was told he was entering I was pleased but not surprised as he loves many different foods from around the world and is a great help in the kitchen. I’m a bit shocked he’s in the final though!”

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 Billy on being chosen as a finalist and hope Buckinghamshire residents show their support by voting”.

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

BILLY’S RECIPE

1 x orange or yellow pepper (chopped to approx 1cm squared)

1 x medium potato (quartered and sliced)

1 x sweet potato (quartered and sliced)

1x cup of frozen peas (approximately)

1 x tbsp Paprika

1 x good pinch of salt

1 x good pinch of ground peppercorns

1 x handful of flat leaf parsley

Puff or short crust pastry

Egg or milk wash

Poppy seeds

METHOD:

Place the potatoes into a saucepan and boil for about ten minutes or until nearly cooked

Gently fry off the onions in a small amount of rapeseed oil

In a separate pan, fry off the peppers on a higher heat until sizzling.

When this is done, add approximately ¼ pint of water to the largest frying pan, mix the onions, peppers and peas as well as the herbs and spices

Add in the drained potatoes and mix, then put the mixture into a container to cool down to room temperature or leave overnight in the fridge

Put the mixture into a deep pie dish and lay the pastry sheet on top (cut off excess pastry with a butter knife)

Brush top of pastry with egg or milk wash then sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Preheat the oven to 200 º and place the pie in the oven and bake for around 40 minutes until golden brown and pie is piping hot

Serve and enjoy!