Salads
Caprese style asparagus
A vibrant dish to celebrate the short asparagus season. Caprese is a beautifully simple Italian salad that showcases summer flavours from UK grown tomatoes and basil. These flavours complement asparagus so well that we have adapted the recipe for springtime, lightly roasting European cherry tomatoes to really bring out their flavour. With black olives, basil, fresh mozzarella and a generous drizzle of tangy balsamic vinegar, this dish will leave you amazed that such simple ingredients can taste so good.
Cook's notes
If you don't want to chargrill the asparagus, roast at the same time as the tomatoes.
Ingredients
- 250g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 bunches of asparagus
- 20g basil, keep the small leaves for garnish & chop the rest
- 30g black olives, halved
- 1 mozzarella ball, drained
- balsamic vinegar
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas 5. Place the cherry tomatoes in a roasting tray and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes or so, until they start to soften.
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Step 2
Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until smoking hot and prepare the asparagus by cutting off any tough ends. Lightly oil and grill in batches until you have thick black marks on each side. Transfer to a large serving plate and sprinkle some flaky salt on top and set aside.
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Step 3
In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives and basil with olive oil and salt.
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Step 4
Top the asparagus with the tomato salad, then tear the mozzarella and add that too. Finish with a few basil leaves, a good drizzle of balsamic vinegar and serve.