Turn your back on spring asparagus at your peril. It has taken my asparagus bed four weeks to produce its first four spears. But tonight I picked 13 finger-fat ‘Pacific Purple’ spears (one was 30cm long!) for dinner – we ate it steamed, with fresh egg pasta, smoky bacon and parmesan cheese – and there are another 21 spears still out there, poking their heads out of the soil. Guess what we’ll be having for dinner tomorrow night… and the next night… yum!
Ps. In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes: purple asparagus, like purple beans, loses its colour when cooked. It doesn’t turn completely green though, more like a greeny-purple.
lynda hallinan 