Category: Recipes,Pork,Vegetables | Post by: Andrea Wong
It's spring! It's spring! Yesterday I was out for my morning walk and I walked under a cheery tree in full bloom. I couldn't help but smile just a little. Spring is when I get my summer vege seeds sown and to me, the start of spring mean asparagus season!
I love things that only have a short season. It means that you look forward to it all year, then gorge yourself on them until you get sick of looking at it. Well, for me, asparagus has never done that - I have never thought to myself "ugh, not asparagus again".
Asparagus is revered just a little with me - I try not to hide it amongst other veges. I'd rather keep it whole or in big pieces, so that I can taste every morsel. Crunch, crunch, crunch, I go eating up the stem, leaving the sweet tip until last.
My first taste of the new season's asparagus is normally very simple... steamed until just cooked through and dribbled with olive oil and lemon juice.
For this recipe, I've spruced up a plain plate of asparagus with some d'lish pancetta. They make tasty bedfellows. You can either eat it as per the recipe below, or cut the asparagus into thirds and toss it through some pasta, cooked peas and olive oil.
Asparagus with crispy pancetta lardons
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients
400g asparagus
100g pancetta, cut into lardons (small rectangles)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
half a lemon
salt
Directions
- In a dry frying pan, lightly fry the pancetta until crispy
- In another pan, heat the olive oil and add the asparagus and cook over a high heat for a few minutes. Add a bit of water, a pinch of salt and cover for a couple of minutes until just cooked through.
- Serve the asparagus on a platter with the pancetta sprinkled over the top and lemon juice squeezed over.