Asparagus Is Here!
The long-awaited UK asparagus season is here. We offer the best asparagus we can get, organic and outdoor-grown in the rich soil of Cambridgeshire by Clive Martin.
The first asparagus of the season is not the time to get fancy. Just put the spears centre-stage and do a little bit to flatter them. They're great simply with bread and butter (possibly melted until it starts foaming). Or dunked into a boiled egg. Or with olive oil and parmesan if you're leaning more Italian.
Asparagus is also surprisingly good grilled. Brushed with oil the spears make a delightful addition to a barbecue, needing just a minute or two on each side.
No recipe - I mean it, keep it simple! But this means you've got to make sure that your bread, your butter, your olive oil, or whatever you're accompanying it with needs to be top notch too.
Peppery Leaves
Peppery salad leaves are abundant at the moment, just in time for the sunny weather. The pick of the lot is the new season watercress.
Peppery and punchy, the Romans believed it was a cure for baldness. Don't know about that, but do know that it's strong flavour means it can stand up to bold seasonings and accompaniments.
It's the classic leaf to find in an egg sandwich and makes unexpectedly delicious soup (which also works chilled in the height of summer).
When using as a salad leaf, go for punchy, mustardy dressings. It works great tossed with some leftover roast potatoes (yes really!) and some green beans or asparagus. Or make the most of the new season radishes to really lean into the pepperiness.
Here's a blindingly easy watercress soup from Jamie Oliver.
And here's an unusually simple Asparagus, lentils and watercress salad from Yotam, where the watercress is whizzed into a pesto-like dressing for the rest of the ingredients.