Asparagus is the most seasonal of all vegetables and it’s the produce I await the most keenly. Because who in their right mind would want to buy limpid, planet-killing asparagus from the darkest Peru, instead of waiting patiently for the British season?
It starts officially on St George’s Day, in late April, but in practice you can buy (atrociously expensive, to be fair) green shoots from Norfolk or Kent as early as end of March, if the winter had been mild. And then it’s asparagus almost every day as far as I’m concerned, until the Summer Solstice, traditional season end.
Cook them simply or you can even eat them raw. Take your pick of the recipes below!
Whether you snap the ends or slice them off, this is a beautifully simple recipe for asparagus pan-roasted in butter, served with Parmesan. And yes, the peculiar fragrance they give to your pee should be present, unless you’re one of the unaffected minority.
A variation of the recipe above, this one has asparagus spears cooked under the oven grill. Sprinkled with toasted almond flakes and grated Parmesan, they take only a few minutes.
Grilled asparagus with almonds
RECIPE
If you thought asparagus should always be mellow in flavour, think again: it can take the heat! Cut into chunks, stir-fried with chillies, garlic and ginger, it’s asparagus from the wok.
The best spring snack: asparagus spears wrapped in filo pastry and rolled up like cigars are a crunchy, golden, irresistible vegetarian appetiser.
Another asparagus plus pastry recipe: a puff pastry tart, super easy to put together and rather impressive to serve. Asparagus is the perfect topping for puff pastry: it cooks quickly and it’s not watery so the pastry won’t go soggy.
It’s a green, green salad, with chunks of asparagus, chopped fresh herbs and vibrant pistachios. For extra nutritional value, go for whole-wheat couscous which is richer in fibre than the refined variety, and it has this gritty quality to it which I like a lot.
Couscous with asparagus and pistachios
RECIPE
This is a spin off classic Italian risotto primavera, with asparagus chunks cooked with rice and tips added at the end. It’s such an immensely flavourful dish it makes up for the labour of patiently stirring the rice.
Large and chunky pasta shapes cooked with asparagus added to the pot at the end, that’s the simplest pasta recipe. Zing it up with a vibrant lemon sauce made with segmented lemon pieces.
Pasta with lemon and asparagus
RECIPE
It’s a variation of the classic Chinese beef and broccoli, and it’s adapted for the asparagus season. Also, this features the tenderest beef you have ever eaten.
Beef and asparagus stir-fry
RECIPE
Another stir-fry recipe, because asparagus is a dream wok ingredient. Scallops, the less pricy, frozen ‘queen’ variety, aubergine and 'fish fragrant', yu xiang inspired sauce make a dish ready in minutes and delicious with plain rice or noodles.
Scallop and asparagus stir-fry
RECIPE
Another wok recipe in the collection: velvet fish and asparagus with garlic and ginger sauce. Velveting, or marinating the fish in egg white, wine and corn flour keeps it wonderfully juicy in this unusual Chinese dish.
Velvet fish and asparagus stir-fry
RECIPE
Once local new potatoes make it to your market stalls, try this warm salad of new potatoes with asparagus and crispy pancetta. If those three ingredients sound like a delightful combination, that's because they are the perfect spring main course salad.
Potato, asparagus and pancetta salad
RECIPE
Asparagus, garlic, mint and some cold, cooked leftover pasta make a fabulous dish. In this instance the pasta is orzo but you can use any pasta shapes you like or have.
Asparagus is as delicious raw as it is cooked. A mix of shaved and chopped fresh asparagus is served with Parmesan and a light dressing – spring on a plate!
This one is a little more elaborate, best made with fat spears. Thinly shaved, lightly marinated, dressed with creamy sauce, they are incredibly tasty.