British asparagus season: Make the most of the precious spears while you can

Julia Platt Leonard shares her recipe for asparagus with roasted red pepper sauce

The season for British asparagus only lasts from the end of April through June

I’m sure there are people who don’t like asparagus just as there must be people who don’t think puppies are cute, but I’m not sure I’ve ever met them. For me, asparagus is the king/queen of the vegetable kingdom. It’s on my desert island list of ingredients along with olive oil and lemons (no scurvy for me, thank you very much).

It’s all the more precious as the season for British asparagus only lasts from the end of April through June. As soon as I see the first spears in the shops I start counting down the days until it’s gone for another year. Yes, perhaps a bit morbid but I want to ensure I get my fill before it’s gone. Of course we’ll continue to see some horribly jet-lagged asparagus from South America but after you’ve tasted the real deal it’s hard/impossible to go back.

The other day, I spied green (with a choice of either fat or thin spears), white and purple. I almost wept with joy. I’d gladly eat it for breakfast (is there a more perfect partner for all things eggy?), at lunch in a salad, and back for a rousing encore at dinner in a risotto or pasta or simply dunked in butter and slurped up.

Julia teams asparagus with walnuts, roasted peppers and parmesan cheese

Asparagus needs no accompaniment but it’s never so churlish as to turn one down. I whipped up a red pepper sauce with garlic, olive oil, walnuts and some parmesan cheese. You could easily leave the cheese out or use almonds or pine nuts instead of walnuts. Pumpkin seeds wouldn’t be bad either, come to think of it.

This recipe makes far more sauce than you’ll need but trust me, that’s a good thing. It’s lovely slathered on a slice of bread, served with eggs (see above) or stirred into a bowl of beans or soup for an amazingly quick meal. Just place the leftovers in a clean jar and store in the fridge.

As for the asparagus? I doubt you’ll have leftovers. But if you do, give me a shout. I’ll be over in ten minutes.

Asparagus with roasted red pepper sauce

The bottom part of the asparagus stalk is notoriously woody. I used to snap off the end to deal with this but realised I was losing a lot of good asparagus. Now I trim off the most woody bit– say roughly 2- 2 1/2cm – and then take a peeler to get off the tough outer skin on the remaining bottom third. You can use a regular peeler but I use a serrated tomato peeler which works really well.

Serves 2-3

1 bunch of asparagus, around 375-400g
50g walnuts
200g roasted red peppers (feel free to use ones from a jar)
1 clove of garlic
50ml olive oil + some to drizzle on the asparagus
25g freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 ½ tsp Pul biber or other red pepper flakes

Wash and trim the asparagus and blanch in salted boiling water until just cooked through. Drain and refresh with cold water. Gently dry with a piece of kitchen roll, place on a platter and coat with a light drizzle of olive oil.

Asparagus with roasted red pepper sauce

To make the sauce, toast the walnuts in a frying pan or in the oven until lightly browned and toasted. Remove and let cool. Rub off any skins that are flaking off – these tend to be bitter and detract from the flavour.

Roughly chop the red pepper and garlic and place in the small bowl of a food processor along with the walnuts. While the food processor is running, drizzle in the olive oil to create a thick emulsion. I aim for a rough texture with a bit of crunch to it but you can go for a smoother sauce if you like. Once combined, add in the parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes and give a stir.

Top the asparagus with some of the sauce and serve the rest of the sauce in a dish.