*LILY SIMPSON, founder of The Detox Kitchen, shares three of her favourite asparagus recipes - a pizza, a tart and a salad. ***Cauliflower Pizza With Crushed Peas AndAsparagus**
- 1/2 cauliflower
- 35g Ground almonds
- 1 tsp wheat free flour
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1/4 a 400g tin of artichokes
- 1 egg
For the topping
- 150g fresh podded peas
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp rapeseed oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Fresh mint
- 6 asparagus
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.Remove the outer leaves and stalk of the cauliflower and discard. Place the florets in a food processor and blitz until it is the consistency of rice. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add in the ground almonds, wheat-free flour, thyme, salt and pepper. Combine the ingredients well. Beat the eggs and then add them to the mixture. Bring the mixture together, it will be a fairly wet consistency.On a lined baking tray, form six small circles using the dough. You will need to shape them with your hands so that they are round and about 1.5cm thick. Drizzle with a little olive oil then bake them in the oven for 20 minutes until lightly golden.While the pizza base is cooking. Place the peas in a pan of boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, then drain and place them in a blender with the garlic, oil, salt, pepper and mint. Blitz to a rough consistency and set aside. Remove the woody stalk of the asparagus and slice it in half length ways.Once the base has been cooking for 20 minutes, top with the peas and asparagus and place back in the oven for a further 6-8 minutes until hot throughout. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5-10 minutes, this will allow the base to harden.Enjoy.Asparagus and Shallot TartFor the base
- 2 eggs
- 2 springs rosemary, remove the leaves and finely chop
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 100g oats
- 50g flour, extra for dusting
For the filling
- 3 shallots
- 1 clove garlic
- 3 eggs
- 50ml brown rice milk
- Pinch salt and pepper
- Handful sunflower seeds
- 100g baby asparagus
Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Lightly flour a 16cm flan tin.To make the pastry, beat the eggs then add the rest of the ingredients and bring together into a ball. Cover with cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.Once chilled, roll out the dough. It is quite a dry dough so don't worry too much if it crumbles. Once you have a large piece that is around 1/2cm thick, place it in the tin and mould it with your hands. You can fill in any holes with the trimmings. Now cover with baking paper and fill with baking beans, blind bake for 15 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and discard the baking paper. Set the base aside while you make the filling.Place a small frying pan on a medium heat with a drizzle of oil, add the shallots and garlic and cook for 10 minutes until soft. Evenly spread them onto the base.To make the filling, beat the eggs with the milk, salt and pepper and pour over the shallots. Top with the asparagus and sunflower seeds.Place the tart in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the egg has set. Remove the tart from the case and serve.Asparagus, Edamame, Quinoa and Dill SaladServes 2
- 120g quinoa
- Good pinch of salt and pepper
- Juice and zest ½ lemon
- Handful coriander ,roughly chopped
- Handful dill, roughly chopped
- 8 asparagus
- 100g edamame, podded
- Handful pumpkin seeds
Place the quinoa in a pan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 6-8 minutes until tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place the quinoa in a large bowl with the salt, pepper, lemon juice and zest, coriander and dill.Chop off the woody part of the asparagus, then cut into 1cm pieces until you reach the tip, leave about 4 cm for the tips, and slice them in half length ways. Bring a small pan of water to the boil and drop in the asparagus. Cook for 1 minute then immediately run under cold water until cool. Add the asparagus and edamame to the quinoa and mix well.In a small frying pan, gently toast some pumpkin seeds on a low heat until slightly golden. Sprinkle them over the salad to serve.Lily Simpson is founder of The Detox Kitchen, which has delis in Harvey Nichols and on London's Kingly Street - for more information, visit here.
