Good morning. I hope your Sunday is slow and involves something delicious for breakfast. Sunny mornings feel all the sweeter here because they’re never taken for granted, but I’m not sure the sun will show up today. That doesn’t stop me from planning ahead though, and next weekend is going to be a SCORCHER.
May in the UK can be so unpredictable, but you know what signals Spring to me? Asparagus season. Yay! About time! Bank this recipe for a sunny day, its a super easy one to make ahead if you’ve got friends coming over. You can prep the ajoblanco, breadcrumbs and asparagus all 2 days in advance. Ready and waiting!
British asparagus is only around for a few weeks and it’s really expensive, you can expect to pay £5 for a bunch, so it feels fleeting and indulgent and worth giving it some real time to shine. If I’m cooking it on its own I think its flavour and texture is always best when just fried in a little extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan, with a smashed clove of garlic and some salt. You can pop a lid on to steam it a little too but I wouldn’t boil it. Over boiled, dull asparagus is a sin! However, if you’re going to put it in a salad, and eat it cold, blanching is the best way to keep timings tight and spears spanking fresh. I cannot stress this enough though, it cooks in 60 seconds. (or you can push it to 90 seconds if you don’t want crunch)
Another sure sign of Spring is my Mum’s garden. I LOVE Spain this time of the year, and I think her gardens look their best right now.
For the retreat, I snipped nasturtiums and purple basil for this asparagus salad and the colours and flavours felt completely joyful. This salad was a favourite amongst our retreat guests, so I thought I’d share the recipe here and I’ll give you a full run down of everything we cooked, taught and ate in the next newsletter.
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