Good quality, flavoursome ingredients are always better cooked simply. What’s the point in drowning the delicate, unmistakable flavour of asparagus in a rich sauce or heavy dressing? Instead, enjoy such wonderful produce cooked in butter, or as the main event on top of an Asparagus and Mozzarella Pizza.
The official British asparagus season runs from 23rd of April to 21st of June. However, there are always some – particularly in warm microclimates – that jump the gun and impress us that little bit early. Indeed it proved too difficult to resist the large bunch of beautiful asparagus staring at me in my local grocers – cheap at only £1.25 for the bunch! A little fridge rummaging later and my recipe for Asparagus and Brie Tartine was prepared, photographed and devoured eagerly.
One of the main advantages that accompany a cast-iron pan is its innate ability to be tossed willy-nilly into an oven without incurring considerable damage. Without such an implement one has to, when making a frittata or something similar, go through an occasionally embarrassing egg-flipping process. As such, it is clear that once one has received such a useful gift one is obliged to put it through its frittata-making paces. This must seem like incredibly old, and thus ironic, news to the skillet veterans out there. However, for a novice, such as me, it is proving emotionally difficult to come to terms with how rapidly such an item can become entirely indispensable.