White asparagus with manchego & marcona almonds
A simple dish of white asparagus and tasty Iberian accompaniments
Recipe Meta
Prep
15 mins
Cook
15 mins
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Ingredients
- 12-15 spears of fresh white asparagus (thickness can vary, as can appetites)
- 100g manchego cheese
- 75g marcona almonds, fried and salted (as sold by Brindisa)
- 150ml extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
Method
Slice the woody ends from the asparagus spears and peel off any thick skin from the lower end of the stalks. Boil the spears in salted water for 5 mins and then drain on kitchen paper.
Heat a large griddle pan or barbecue. Place the asparagus on a tray and drizzle over 2 tbsp oil – you don’t need much, just enough to help the caramelisation process. Roll the stalks over to cover in a thin layer of oil. Lay the spears over the hot griddle in one layer (you may need to cook in a couple of batches) and turn them with tongs as they begin to colour. Cook until tender to the point of a knife.
Use a potato peeler to shave manchego in thin slithers over the asparagus, sprinkle with the almonds, the extra virgin olive oil, a splash of lemon juice and a little salt and pepper.
Image: Kim Lightbody
