SCHOOL children from all corners of Worcestershire are being invited to show their culinary skills by entering a national competition and cooking up a pea-fect dish.

The contest is part of the Yes Peas! Campaign run by the British Growers Association and aims to promote one of the nation’s favourite vegetables - peas.

Primary school children up to Year Six can enter the Little Pea Chef category while secondary students from Year Seven and Eight can enter the Big Pea Chef category.

The competition aims to challenge budding young chefs to develop a healthy and delicious recipe which includes the great British pea as star of the show.

The event is being sponsored by supermarket Waitrose and cookware supplier ProCook, while TV chef Rachel Green is the Yes Peas! Campaign ambassador.

Full competition terms and conditions and how to enter are online at www.youngpeachef.co.uk. For pea recipe examples, visit www.peas.org and www.waitrose.co.uk.

Rachel Green said: “With over 100 entries in last year’s competition, we are hoping to encourage even more young cooks across the Midlands and the rest of the UK to get involved. This year we want to see secondary school pupils get their creative chefs hats on too.

“Peas are a wonderfully healthy addition to any meal with an abundance of health benefits. They are an amazing source of vitamin A and C, and are rich in protein, carbohydrate and fibre and low in fat. Whether it be sensational soups, delicious dips or mouth-watering mains, the versatile frozen pea can do it all.

“The great British pea has been gracing our dinner tables for generations and we’re looking forward to seeing what the next generation can produce.”

The competition will close for entries on Monday April 3 2017, when a panel of judges, including Rachel Green, Waitrose frozen food buying manager Michael Simpson-Jones, head of brand at ProCook Sarah Savery-Smith, and representatives from Birds Eye and Pinguin Foods, will shortlist five worthy young pea chefs from each category to go through to the final.

Michael Simpson-Jones from Waitrose said: “The entries in last year’s competition were outstanding so we are very much looking forward to seeing what this year can cook up and the amazing recipes that will be created in the kitchen with this great British vegetable.”

Sarah Savery-Smith said: “It is such a fun and extremely relevant competition and I look forward to seeing what the country’s children can produce in the kitchen.”

To enter the competition, children must create a recipe using frozen peas and submit their list of ingredients and cooking method along with an accompanying video or photograph.

The five finalists from each category will then be voted for by friends, family and schools. Chefs with the most votes win cookery equipment worth £500 for their school from either Waitrose or ProCook.

The winner and four runners up from each category will also be featured in a Yes Peas! recipe book 2017 which will include a range of creative recipes made by children that will be distributed nationwide.

People can follow the competition on Twitter @YesPeas and use the hashtag #youngpeachef and find out about the budding Young Pea Chefs - sharing their thoughts on who deserves to be crowned Young Pea Chef of the Year 2017.