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New season asparagus

with spiced butter and brown shrimp

Serves 4 as a starter, or 2 as a lunch

Right at the start of asparagus season, at the end of April, there is very little that can improve on the flavour and tenderness of these perfect first spears, but asparagus and butter are always a good idea, so why not throw in some irresistible little brown shrimp too? This is a sort of potted shrimp situation with pools of mace-spiked butter, poured over freshly poached asparagus. The result is something so memorable and magnificent I didn’t feel sheepish serving it to a very brilliant chef for lunch. He loved it. It’s perfect as a celebratory spring lunch, but could work well as a show-stopping sharing starter, too. If you can, make this dish when the early asparagus comes through at the end of April (though later in the season it will still be ridiculously good).

60g unsalted butter

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp ground mace

¼ tsp pink peppercorns, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar

500g asparagus spears, trimmed

200g peeled brown shrimp

2 leaves of wild garlic, or a handful finely shredded chervil or chives

juice of 1 lemon

a few wild garlic or chive flowers (optional)

chunks of crusty white bread, to serve

1 Warm a large platter or plate in the oven.

2 Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then stir in the salt, spices and peppercorns. Stir to combine, then remove from the heat while you cook the asparagus.

3 Bring a few centimetres of salted water to the boil in a saucepan wide enough to hold the asparagus without crowding it. Add the asparagus and poach for 2–3 minutes, until a knife blade inserted into the thickest part of a spear can be pulled out with no resistance. While it’s poaching, return the spiced butter pan to the heat and add the shrimp, wild garlic or herbs and lemon juice, basting the shrimps in the butter. Taste for seasoning. Drain the asparagus and pile onto the warm platter, then pour over the shrimps and butter. Garnish with the flowers, if using, and serve with chunks of crusty bread to dip in the butter.

TIP: If you don’t eat shellfish, leave out the shrimp and top with crushed roasted hazelnuts or the Savoury Granola (see here).