The well-loved cookbook challenge #10

How to make the best of asparagus and other spring veg. And herbs! Don’t forget herbs are at their best this month.

Photo credit UladzimirZuyeu at shutterstock.com

For the benefit of new subscribers who are unfamiliar with the well-loved cookbook challenge it’s about revisiting the bespattered books on our shelves, the ones we go back to time after time.

It stems from one of my most popular posts where everyone piled in to share the books they loved most and prompted the idea of cooking a recipe each month from a book that’s 10 years old or older.

It’s a regular free feature on my Substack but it you’d like my weekly food, travel and moneysaving wine tips as well as other exclusive content you can subscribe for as little as £5.

If you’re anything like me you’re eating asparagus non-stop at the moment - to the extent that you might actually welcome some new ideas of how to use it.

Funnily enough it’s only really been in the last 10 or 15 years that we’ve come to realise its full potential. Before that it was rare to roast it or put it on the barbecue, let alone serve it raw so I wouldn’t blame you if you consulted more recent cookbooks for inspiration.

Joe Woodhouse’s excellent Your Daily Veg (2022), for example, offers tempting recipes for asparagus fritters and aioli and warmed asparagus and lettuce, the perfect recipe for this still slightly chilly weather.

Not that there aren’t ideas to be gleaned from older books. As always Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book (1978) is a joy to read on anything veg-related as is, less lyrically but perhaps more practically, Jane Baxter in the first Riverford Farm Cook Book (2008) she co-authored with Guy Watson which includes recipes for asparagus carbonara and asparagus with pinenut salsa.

The main problem is that most of us don’t get our hands on it quickly enough which is why it’s only worth buying it in season. “Asparagus needs to be eaten the day it is picked” states Grigson firmly in the Vegetable Book. “Why gardeners all over the country do not plant an asparagus bed I do not understand.”

Don’t overlook white asparagus either. I love the sound of the gratin of white asparagus in Skye Gyngell’s My Favourite Ingredients (2010) which you can also find on epicurious.com. Asparagus and parmesan is a heavenly pairing.

Even the white asparagus you get in cans and jars is good and rather less tough than the fresh version by the time it arrives here.

Credit: Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Do try this incredibly simple way of serving it with tuna and lemon zest I came up with for Decanter to pair with white rioja (scroll down the feature).

I also love the full-on celebration of spring vegetables that you get in the Italian vegetable stew vignarola (for which there’s a recipe from my book Wine Lover’s Kitchen (2017) below).

It’s not quite artichoke and broad bean season in the UK yet but many greengrocers, including mine, import them from Italy and homegrown should hopefully be around by the end of the month. The Spanish make a similar dish called menestra.

May is also peak season for herbs - especially soft herbs like basil, chervil, chives and tarragon.

Robert Carrier had a wonderful paté aux herbes I can remember eating at his restaurant Hintlesham Hall back in the 80s and which he published in his book Food, Wine and Friends.

It was reproduced by Simon Hopkinson when he was writing in the Independent. (Note his modifications)

I also have an original copy of the Herb Farm Cookbook by Jerry Traunfeld. It’s a slightly old-fashioned but masterly book on how to use herbs based on his cooking at the restaurant of the same name just outside Seattle. I visited it just after the book came out and can remember being blown away by his cinnamon basil ice cream (which you can find in the New York Times archive).

(Mind you,

Mark Diacono

’s more recent Herb: a cook’s companion (2021) is a good deal easier to get hold of and is equally encyclopaedic. Try his addictive freeform lemon thyme and leek tart.)

So what are your favourite ways of using in season spring veg and herbs right now and what older recipes do you turn to? Anyone follow Jane Grigson’s advice and grow their own asparagus? Let us know!

If you enjoyed this post and it made you want to eat more asparagus do please give it a 💚

PS If it doesn’t seem inappropriate to take about getting rid of cookbooks in a series that praises them, I’ve just earned over £148 from selling about 50 books to World of Books through their app Sell Your Books, thanks to my friend Susy who told me about it.

All you need to do is scan the bar code with your phone and the price they’re prepared to pay for it pops up in your basket. Hardbacks are better than paperbacks for obvious reasons, the more niche the better. You’re not going to get much for your Jamies and your Nigellas or, sadly, for some of your older books which they tend to undervalue.

Not only that but they actually come and collect them from you!

It’s a good way of having a clearout and making a bit on the side. As a general rule if a book is worth under a pound I give it to a charity shop which will make more money out of it.

Also a reminder that instead of buying yet more cookbooks you may well be able to find the author or recipe you’re looking for on ckbk which is offering my paid subscribers a free 60 day trial then a reduced subscription of 25% off after that which brings an annual subscription down to £29.99. I’ll try and remember to include the code in the next paid subscriber newsletter. If not, drop me a line!

Vignarola (spring vegetable stew)

From Wine Lover’s Kitchen. Original photo by Mowie Kay.

This typically Roman dish is a recipe to make in spring when the new season's vegetables hit the shops and markets. Even better, use veg you've grown yourself. As a simple dish it relies on the best ingredients so the exact cooking time will vary depending on how fresh they are.(If you're using late season broad/fava beans, blanch and skin them first and add them at the last minute with the herbs.)

Wine is not a usual addition but since the recipe comes from a cooking with wine book there’s a slosh!

Serves 4

freshly squeezed juice of ½ lemon

6-8 baby artichokes

5 tablespoons olive oil plus extra for drizzling over the stew

75 g/1/2 cup diced pancetta (you can leave this out if you want the dish to be vegetarian)

1 medium sweet white onion, chopped

1 bunch of spring onions/scallions, trimmed, larger ones halved and cut into 2-3 lengths

75 ml/1/3 cup dry white wine

175 ml/3/4 cup light vegetable stock

175 g/1 generous cup fresh peas

175 g/1 1/ 3 cups fresh or frozen broad/fava beans

4-5 outer Cos lettuce leaves

2 heaped tablespoons freshly chopped flat leaf parsley

1 heaped tablespoon freshly torn mint leaves

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fill a medium to large bowl with cold water and add the lemon juice to stop the artichokes discolouring. Trim off the stalks and the outer leaves, quarter and cut away the tough tips of the artichoke and remove the hairy choke. Halve and pop into the water as you finish them.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and fry the pancetta (if using) until lightly browned. Add 3 more tablespoon of oil, the chopped onion, spring onions/ scallions and prepared artichoke hearts, stir, season, cover and cook over a low heat for about 10-15 minutes until they start to soften. Add the white wine and vegetable stock and bring to the boil.

Tip in the fresh peas and broad/fava beans and simmer for another 5-10 minutes until the vegetables have softened but still have some bite.

Remove the central stem from the lettuce leaves, then shred and add the leaves to the pan and cook for another 2-3 minutes until they have wilted down.

Stir in the parsley and mint and check the seasoning.

Drizzle over some extra olive oil before serving.

What to drink

A crisp fresh white wine like a Frascati or a Falanghina.