The end of April heralds the start of the short (around 6 week) British asparagus season.  Like with most food in our supermarkets, you can get asparagus all year round, but for much of the year it is imported from around the world.  From now until part way through June, you’ll see a lot of asparagus on sale, probably on offer in the shops as we have the surge in supply from our home growers.

I don’t think I had asparagus when I was growing up, it was only later that I discovered it – but now I love it.  But what to do with it?  Of course you could just use it as side veg, steaming or boiling it for a few minutes and serving it as it is.  But you could make it the star of the show – at the weekend I briefly blanched some asparagus, plunged in to cold water to stop it cooking and retain colour, then wrapped in bundles with some Parma ham, then just before serving roasted in the oven on a high temperature for a few minutes with a little oil. I served that with poached eggs to dip the asparagus in.

I think asparagus works really well with both egg and butter, and I love it roasted or sautéd after blanching (to develop some caramel flavours).  Personally I don’t bother peeling the stems or using a proper asparagus pan, but I do cut or snap off any woody ends.

Do let me know your favourite way to use asparagus – I’m going to be making the most of the short season so will be buying a lot and could do with some suggestions!

And if you are lucky enough to see the white asparagus that is favoured in main-land Europe, get it (and let me know where you got it from!) – it has a really subtle flavour, quite different from our usual green asparagus.