English Asparagus with Jersey Royals and Crab - a crisp Spring recipe
The month of May is the height of the English asparagus season. Take advantage now while you can (I recommend a daily serving), because once they’re gone all you’ll be left with on the supermarket shelves are the imitation variety, flown in from halfway across the world.
Put to a boil 250g of Jersey royals (or another new potato variety). Meanwhile, in a mortar and pestle crush together 1 clove of garlic, 1 tsp coarse sea salt, and a small handful of basil leaves. Stir in 1/3 cup Greek yogurt. Set aside. Boil or steam 500g green asparagus spears till just tender. Drain immediately and cut into chunk-sized pieces (discarding the woody ends). Once the potatoes are done (easily pierced with a fork) then drain them and place into a serving bowl. Cut up the bigger potatoes into small chunks and then stir in 1tbs sherry vinegar, the basil sauce, 1 tbs creamed horseradish and 120g crab meat (canned will do fine). Add a squeeze of lime or lemon. Gently stir in the asparagus pieces and a couple large handfuls of lamb’s lettuce (or rocket will do). Drizzle with olive oil and season with crushed sea salt and pepper.
Simply omit the crab for a vegetarian version. Soy cream or yogurt would work quite well as a replacement for the Greek yogurt for a vegan version.
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