Make the most of British asparagus

8:52am Monday 21st April 2008

THE British asparagus season starts at the end of April and runs through May until mid June.

This delicious home-grown delicacy is only available for around eight short weeks, so we have this recipe to help people make the most of the British asparagus crop, which has been described as the best in the world.

Griddled scallops with asparagus, crème fraiche and sweet chilli sauce Serves 4 200g British asparagus tips 20 fresh scallops 4 tbsp sweet chilli sauce 200g crème fraiche 2 tbsp olive oil Method Heat a heavy based frying pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the asparagus, season with sea salt and black pepper, and sauté for 3 - 4 minutes, until the asparagus is just cooked. Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Return the pan to the heat and add the other tablespoon of olive oil, making sure the pan and the oil are very hot but not smoking. Pat the scallops dry with kitchen paper, season with sea salt and add them to the hot pan. Cook for 45 seconds on each side and remove from the pan.

Divide the asparagus tips between four serving plates and place the scallops on top. Spoon some crème fraiche to the side, and drizzle each plate with a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce. Grind over some black pepper and serve.

Hot Tips To make this a more healthy option you could use low fat crème fraiche. Add finely chopped chives to the crème fraiche as an alternative.