Shaved asparagus, artichoke, lemon and parmesan salad

This recipe was originally written for Town & Country UK.

I adore asparagus season. It is always a sign that warmer weather is on its way and with it comes the blooms of spring and warmth in the air. Asparagus season is fleeting so my advice is to eat as much of it as you can whilst the season is high. This is a simple salad that takes little time to prepare. Use good aged Parmesan if you can. Any good delicatessen will have it.  If you can find one specialising in Italian food and then they are likely to have the wonderful large marinated artichokes too. But if you can’t find these then jarred ones will also work well.

I love to serve this as a light starter or to add a bit of greenery to the table alongside a main.

Ingredients

• 2 bunches asparagus, washed with woody ends trimmed

• 3 large marinated artichoke hearts

• 40g parmesan (plus extra to garnish)

• zest of one lemon

• 5tbsp olive oil

• 2 tbsp water

Method

• Using a vegetable peeler peel your asparagus into thin slices. Place into a large mixing bowl.

• Separate the leaves of your artichoke hearts and add these to the bowl.

• Using the finest setting of your greater great you’re 40g of parmesan. Place into a small mixing bowl along with the zest of one lemon, your olive oil and water. Stir well to combine. 

• Pour dressing into bowl with asparagus and artichokes and toss everything together. Allow it to rest for five minutes.

• Transfer onto a serving dish or individual plates and finish with shavings of Parmesan (use your vegetable peeler to do this)