I always try to eat seasonally, and the roots of these recipes come from my menus at the National Dining Rooms at London's National Gallery, where we always use seasonal produce. The recipes here use spring ingredients - baby vegetables are especially rewarding at this time of year and are the perfect backdrop to meat or fish.

Rabbit pie with spring carrots

There are some dishes that are so simple they're just meant for every day, and this is one of them. Just pop the pie in the oven and it will take care of itself.

Serves 4

1 rabbit
25g butter
225g smoked streaky bacon rashers (without rinds), diced
1 onion, sliced
500ml hot rabbit or chicken stock
200g young, slim baby carrots, trimmed and scrubbed
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
300g good-quality puff pastry (preferably made with butter)
milk, to glaze

Cut the legs from rabbit, and cut the saddle into four pieces (or ask your butcher to do this). Heat a flameproof casserole until very hot and quickly brown the liver and kidneys from the rabbit. Remove and set aside. Melt the butter in the casserole and fry the bacon over a medium heat until the fat runs. Remove the bacon and reserve. Add the rabbit pieces to the casserole
and brown all over for about 5 minutes. Remove the rabbit. Add the onion to the pan, cover, and sweat gently for a few minutes until soft.

Return the rabbit to the casserole with liver, kidneys and bacon. Pour in the stock and add seasoning to taste. Bring just to the boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 45 minutes or until the rabbit is tender. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, put the carrots into a saucepan of salted cold water and bring to the boil. Drain and refresh under cold running water. Remove the rabbit from the cooking liquid and pull the meat from the bones, keeping the pieces of meat as large as possible. Strain the stock and boil until reduced to 275ml. Put the meat in a pie dish (about 1 litre) with the carrots, sage and reduced stock.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 5mm thick. Cut out a lid for the pie dish plus a strip to go around the rim. Moisten the rim of the dish and press the strip on to it, then moisten the strip and place the lid on top. Trim the edge, and press and crimp to seal. Make a hole in the centre of the lid. Leave the pie to rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, set the oven at 190°C.

Brush the pastry lid with milk, then bake the pie for about 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve hot.

Lancashire hotpot

Over the years, this humble dish has evolved almost beyond recognition. It used to have oysters in it, when they were an everyday food. There's nothing to stop you adding your own embellishments - sliced leeks, carrots and turnips are all good.

Serves 4

1kg middle neck lamb chops
1 tbs vegetable oil
3 onions, sliced
1 tbs plain flour
600ml hot lamb or chicken stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
600g waxy potatoes (Charlotte, Nicola or Cara), peeled and thickly sliced
large knob of butter

Remove any excess fat from the chops. Heat the oil in a wide flameproof casserole (about 2 litres) over a medium to high heat. When the oil is so hot that you can see a blue haze, add the chops. Sear until browned on both sides, turning once. Remove the chops, set aside.

Turn the heat down to low under the casserole and add the onions. Sweat with the lid on for 10-15 minutes until they are soft and lightly browned. Meanwhile, set the oven at 170°C.

Sprinkle the flour over the softened onions, then slowly pour in the stock, stirring all the time until a smooth sauce is formed. Add the Worcestershire sauce and seasoning to taste and simmer for 1 minute. Return the chops to the casserole and chuck in the bay leaf and thyme.

Arrange the potato slices on top of the chops to cover them, overlapping the slices slightly. Season the potatoes and dot with the butter. Cover the casserole with a tight-fitting lid, then transfer to the oven and cook for 1 hour. Remove the lid and continue cooking the hotpot for 30 minutes, increasing the heat to 200°C for the last 15 minutes to give the potatoes a golden colour. Serve hot.

Smoked eel salad

Eel is a rich, dense fish and the smoking is delicate. It should be eaten more often - there's plenty of it about, and it makes an excellent starter with a leafy salad.

Serves 4

30g hazelnuts
4 unsmoked bacon rashers (without rinds)
1 head of curly endive (pale inner leaves only)
200g smoked eel
½ bunch of fresh chives, cut into
2cm lengths

for the dressing:
6 tbs hazelnut oil
4 tbs rapeseed oil
2 tbs tarragon vinegar
4 tsp smooth mild mustard

Preheat the grill to medium. Spread out the nuts in the grill pan and grill for a few minutes until toasted, shaking the pan frequently to prevent the nuts from burning. Remove the nuts from the pan and set aside to cool. Grill the bacon on the grill rack for about 5 minutes or until crisp. Remove the bacon, leaving the grill on.

Crush the nuts coarsely with the flat of the blade of a large cook's knife, and cut or crumble the bacon into pieces. Separate the endive leaves and toss with the nuts and bacon in a bowl.

Cut the eel into 6cm pieces, discarding any skin and bones, then grill for a minute or 2 until warmed through. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients in a jug or bowl with seasoning to taste. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to coat the leaves, then place the eel on top. Scatter the chives over and around.

Treacle tart

Despite its name, treacle tart is not made with treacle at all but with golden syrup. The secret is to use lots of syrup.

Makes 12 bars

300g plain flour
150g butter, cut into rough 1cm cubes
300ml double cream
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
800g golden syrup
200g fresh white breadcrumbs
125g ground almonds
finely grated zest of 2 lemons

Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl and rub in the butter. Do this very gently, just long enough to make the mixture resemble crumbly sand - a few lumps are fine. Sprinkle over 3 tbs cold water and stir in with a table knife until the mixture binds together. Now bring it together in a rough ball shape with your fingertips, adding another ½-1tbs water if needed. When enough liquid has been added, the pastry should leave the bowl fairly clean.

Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, roll out the pastry thinly on a floured surface and use to line a Swiss roll tin measuring about 30 ... 20cm and 4cm deep. Trim the edges, and prick the bottom all over with a fork. Chill in the fridge for a further 30 minutes.

Set the oven at 190°C. Mix the cream, eggs and egg yolk together in a bowl. Warm the syrup in a pan over a gentle heat, then add the breadcrumbs, almonds and lemon zest. Remove from the heat and mix in the cream and eggs, then pour into the pastry case.

Bake the tart for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden around the edges and the filling feels set in the middle when gently pressed. Cool in the tin before cutting into bars.

Rhubarb tart

Here, the quintessential English pairing of rhubarb and custard is cooked in a pastry case that looks like a sweet quiche. Instead of cooking the rhubarb beforehand, which would turn it to a pulp, it's macerated in sugar. This leaves the rhubarb with its natural colour, a little bit of crunch and an intense flavour.

Serves 8

beaten egg, for sealing
500g shortcrust pastry
1 kg rhubarb (forced or new season's)
200g caster sugar
250ml crème fraîche
125ml double cream
3 egg yolks

Trim the rhubarb, then cut the stalks across into thin slices (this helps break down any stringy fibres). Mix the rhubarb with 150g of the sugar in a bowl. Leave at room temperature for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, make the tart case. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 5mm thick. Use to line a 25cm flan ring placed on a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper (or use a fluted loose-bottomed tart tin). Let the surplus pastry hang over the edge of the ring, and do not stretch it or it will shrink during baking. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, then leave the case to rest in the fridge for about half an hour before baking.

Set the oven at 170°C. Line the bottom and sides of the pastry case with a disc of greaseproof paper. Fill with baking beans or uncooked pulses or rice and bake for 20 minutes. Slide the baking sheet out of the oven and lift out the paper and beans. Brush the pastry with beaten egg and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Tip the rhubarb into a sieve and let the liquid drain through, pressing the rhubarb tightly with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible - the pieces should be compact and dry.

Increase the oven to 180°C. Trim off the surplus pastry from the edge of the tart. Mix the remaining filling ingredients with the remaining sugar. Pile the rhubarb in the tart case and pour in the filling. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is lightly coloured. The filling should be just set, with a slight quiver when you gently shake the tart.