Asparagus with pesto and ewes' milk cheese. Photo / Babiche Martens
Asparagus with pesto and ewes' milk cheese. Photo / Babiche Martens
KEY POINTS:
Serves 4
Pesto
1 cup basil leaves
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbs pine nuts
2 cloves garlic
50g freshly grated parmesan
Salt
200g broad beans
24 asparagus spears
2 tbs olive oil
200g ewes' milk cheese (I used feta, but any type will be good.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 To makethe pesto put the basil, oil, pine nuts and garlic in a food processor and blend. Scrape out into a bowl and add the cheese, then taste for seasoning. If not using immediately the pesto can be put into a jar and covered with a film of olive oil.
2 Boil the broad beans, drain, cool and peel.
3 Snap off the ends of the asparagus, heat a pan, add the oil and then the asparagus, season, cover and let cook gently for 5 minutes. Set aside.
4 To serve, arrange the asparagus on plates or one platter, add the broad beans, spoon over the pesto and crumble the cheese, add a grind of black pepper and a sprinkling of salt.
