Spring Potatoes & Asparagus

Photo: Julie Biuso

Serves 4

This is one of those OMG combinations, and it is so simple: Potatoes, asparagus and shallots. Unimpressed? You won't be when you try it.

Ingredients

• 500g new season potatoes
• Salt
• 50g butter
• 1 Tbsp creamy Dijonnaise mustard
• ½ cup finely chopped shallots
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 500g asparagus
• A few Tbsp chopped parsley, mint, chervil, chives, whatever you have 
• Freshly grated parmesan

Method

1 Wash potatoes and either steam or cook gently in salted water until tender. 

2 While the potatoes are cooking, put butter, mustard and shallots in a medium-sized frying pan and cook gently for 5-7 minutes, until the shallot is tender and just starting to colour. Turn off the heat. When the potatoes are tender, drain and cover with paper towels and leave them for a few minutes to absorb moisture. Add potatoes to the pan and crush with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and turn them around in the shallot butter.

3 Trim asparagus and cut on the diagonal into short lengths. Either steam asparagus, or cook briefly in gently boiling, salted water for 3-5 minutes. Keep them crunchy, but not raw. Drain and drape with paper towels briefly.

4 Reheat potatoes until piping hot. Slide potatoes onto a warmed serving platter leaving a little shallot and butter in the pan. Return pan to the heat and add asparagus. Roll them around to coat in the buttery leftovers and season with a pinch of salt. Tip asparagus on top of potatoes, scraping in all the bits and bobs in the pan. Scatter with a handful of chopped herbs and a little grated parmesan. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

You can make a meal of this with a poached egg or two. Or team it up with hot-smoked salmon or a roast chicken and salad. Glorious stuff. And, of course, you can sizzle the potatoes until golden before adding the asparagus.

The parmesan cheese is optional … but in my book, everything tastes better with parmesan (well, perhaps not chocolate cake!).