THE MENUS: Asparagus and Anchovy Butter

I’m always so grateful and inspired when I go to someone else’s house and they have cooked for me. Recently, I went to a friend’s on a Sunday afternoon and they made an early dinner of toasted ciabatta and steak sandwiches for us, which truly was so well executed, so simple and one I thought, I’ll definitely be doing again in the future.

It’s so easy to over complicate things when hosting. Someone said to me earlier this year that you should never apologise when cooking for someone if you feel it’s not gone the way you wanted it to. They said being cooked for is one of life’s greatest acts. So therein inspired the new series of THE MENUS, recipes that pair together beautifully, are considered and most of all are delicious with the intention of being cooked for either a few, or many.

“The first proper sunny day menu”

A menu designed to be taken outside, to bake your face in the new warm sun, the sun that’s hardly been seen for the first part of this year. For this menu I’ll be cooking:

Asparagus and Anchovy Butter (shared today)

Mussels and Tomato Pasta

Blood Orange and Ginger Jelly

Serves 4

A recipe to celebrate asparagus. I love recipes like these - one ingredient as the main, dressed up with a few simple garnishes. You can serve this as a starter, perhaps with some beautiful torn baguette, or as a side to your main. It also would a brilliant dish to serve for breakfast, with a few boiled eggs, fresh juice and coffee. Yum.

3 anchovies
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 lemon, zest and juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
Pinch salt

300g asparagus, ends trimmed
Salt
45g parmesan

Make the anchovy butter by putting the anchovies, garlic, lemon zest and olive oil into a pan. Cook over a medium to low heat until the anchovies start to fall apart. In a food processor add the butter, the cooked anchovies, chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Whip until the anchovy mix is evenly distributed in the butter and it becomes smoothy and creamy.

Prepare the asparagus. Boil them in salted water for 3-4 minutes until just cooked and then blanch them in cool iced water. Put them on a serving plate and top with anchovy butter, parmesan shavings, season with salt and pepper and finish with some lemon and olive oil.