Monday, May 3, 2010

The Taste of Spring


To me, asparagus will always and forever be the taste that most sums up the taste of spring. Whether it is as a starter, gently draped in parma ham, or in a yummy creamy asparagus soup, a pie, or; as simple as this asparagus based tapas dish Jamie Oliver mentions in his new book Jamie Does.., the nutty tasting crunchy vegetable will forever be a hit with me.

When the weather heats up enough to entertain friends and family outdoors, I will most definitively be serving this dish- preferably with something cold, crisp and white in my glass to go with it! :


GRIDDLED ASPARAGUS
Serves 4 as a tapas dish

Preheat a griddle pan on a high heat for 5 minutes and let it get screaming hot.
While that's happening, snap the woody ends off 500g of asparagus and discard, then grill for 5 to 8 minutes, turning every now and then, so they start to get quite charred, nutty and delicious.
Meanwhile, bash a garlic clove in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the zest and juice of ½ a lemon and 3 times as much Spanish extra virgin olive oil.
When the asparagus spears are charred and cooked, put them into a shallow bowl with your dressing to marinate for a few minutes. Transfer them to a plate and serve them with a handful of stoned green olives torn up over the top and your lemon zest sprinkled over.

I- being me- would also grate some delicious parmesan over the freshly griddles asparaguses- the perfect companion.


(Photo Credit from here)

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