It’s Almost Asparagus Season – Here’s How To Cook It

The British asparagus season runs from 23 April until the end of June – so you just have a couple of months to make the most of it. Here we share a few recipe ideas.

4 Interesting Ways To Cook Asparagus

Asparagus and Quail Eggs Salad

By Franco de Todaro at Stuzzico Ristorante

Ingredients:

• 3 Romaine heart lettuce, chopped
• 10 Green asparagus spears, sliced on an angle
• 150g Young broad beans, podded
• 150g Peas, podded
• 150g Fresh or frozen soy beans
• 2 Radish, raw thinly-sliced
• 8 Quail eggs, soft boiled
• 200g Parmesan shavings
• 100g Baby spinach

Dressing:

• 300ml extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.  Drop in the green asparagus, add the broad beans, peas and soy beans and cook for a couple of minutes.  Drain and run under cold water to stop them cooking but not to cool them.
2. Whisk the extra virgin oil with a good amount of sea salt and black pepper
3. Mix all of the vegetables with the romaine lettuce, baby spinach, radish and parmesan shavings and pour the dressing over.
4. Divide between four plates. Slice the cooked quail eggs in half and place an equal portion on the top of each salad.
5. Enjoy this salad with a crisp glass of white wine, such as Pinot Bianco.

Asparagus Cocktail

By Hutong

The Dragon Tail Hutong

Ingredients:

• 50ml Belvedere
• 25ml Lemongrass and Ginger cordial
• 25ml Lemon Juice
• 20ml Honey
• 2 Asparagus spears (one for decoration)
• 5ml total sesame seeds muddled with oyster sauce (for drink and decoration)

Method:

1. Muddle one asparagus spear (covered with sesame seeds and oyster sauce), and add the rest of the ingredients.
2. Shake and double strain and serve in a martini glass.
3. Garnish with the other spear on a skewer dipped in sesame seed and oyster sauce mix.

Grilled Asparagus

By Ben Tish

Bring out a lovely smoky flavour to the spring time vegetable by grilling it. Chef Ben Tish of Norma loves to cook it on a griddle/BBQ, so that it retains bite and goes all peppery. Tish also likes to slowly cook the stems in foaming butter with shallots and capers. Really delicious. 

Ben Tish Asparagus Eggs and Torta de Barros

The Perfect Asparagus

By Sea Containers at the Mondrian Hotel‘s Gus Crosby

Ingredients:

• Arbequina olive oil
• Asparagus spears
• Lemon juice
• Lemon zest
• Sea salt
• Cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Blanche in salted water on a high heat for 1 mins.
2. Add asparagus spears to a bowl of ice cold water.
3. Strain the vegetable.
4. Add a healthy coating of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
5. Add asparagus to the grill on high heat until charred evenly (1 min each side).
6. Add a pinch of cracked black pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and a touch of lemon zest.
7. Serve with a duck egg on top with a dash of truffle oil.