Recipes

Chosen from Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook, she writes "A wonderful fresh, delicate salad using young spring veg. When they're small and very fresh, asparagus spears are delicious just briefly blanched."

Serves 4

    Bunch of new asparagus
    Handful of peas
    Handful of small broad beans
    Bunch of rocket or milder spinach
    Salt
    2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    A little chopped flat leaf parsley
    Few curls of Pecorino cheese
    Balsamic vinegar

Method

Break off the tips of the asparagus and blanch for 2 minutes. Remove any coarse bits from the asparagus stalks with a potato peeler and slice thinly at an angle. Blanch these too.

Pod the peas and blanch for 2 minutes. Do the same with the broad beans and, if they're larger than a thumbnail, remove their skins, revealing the bright green beans inside.

Dress the rocket with salt and olive oil and put to one side.

Lightly dress the beans, peas and asparagus with olive oil and salt and pile on a plate.

Put the rocket on the top and toss a little, adding the parsley, curls of Pecorino and a drizzle of the Balsamic vinegar.