The Lunchbox #23: The Savoury Bit
A new snack, important olive oil & the only asparagus recipe you need
Hello and welcome to this week’s newsletter. I’ve got a fun one for you this week with a really special olive oil and a very clever asparagus pasta recipe THAT USES THE WHOLE SPEAR!
It’s been a busy few weeks of trying to finish unpacking our new place while developing recipes and getting used to cooking in a different kitchen. I’m very much missing my deep drawers (it’s all about the drawers for me) and my two fridges, but now having a dishwasher makes up for all that. What a game changer!
I’ve written a handy guide to how to cleverly organise a kitchen (plus a must-try miso & peanut butter cookie recipe) in the SWEET part of my newsletter out tomorrow for paid subs.
It’s only £4 a month to be a paid subscriber and you’ll be supporting my writing of this and helping me to sustain it. Click the orange button below - and thank you for your support 🧡
What I’m currently consuming
(*Nothing here is sponsored)
The Snack: Cheeky Nibble
What first attracted me to this? OK, I admit it, it was the packaging. Something about the pale pink with the black type and the pleasingly-proportioned box. Also, ‘inspired by iconic British desserts’ is pretty intriguing. And I’ve always felt that granola was one of the finest snacks out there, so thought I’d see how others out there fair (yes, I do think my chuck-it-all-in-granola recipe is the best, of course). The answer is, pretty well. These guys have nailed the snack brief - more-ish, crunchy, different sized bits and, crucially, not too sweet. It comes in four different flavours and is available from a few different stockists as well as direct from the website.
I also heartily recommend sprinkling this on a smoothie or into your yoghurt, it’s the perfect breakfast or mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
The Olive Oil: Citizens of Oil
Not only does this oil taste like you’re sitting outside eating lunch in the Greek sunshine, but it’s a business determined to revolutionise a broken industry, which has short-changed both the consumer and the producer. Founded by friends, Maria and Michael, at its heart is a desire to make the chain from farm to table much shorter - giving the consumer fresh, sprightly Greek oil and the producer a fair price on their product. For too long, small-holder farmers across Greece have had their beautiful oil mixed and anonymised in the name of mass production, losing out financially along the way. ‘We champion female farmers, pay our producers well-above the market rates - and put their names on the bottle.’
And you can taste the difference in the oil. Each bottle is precisely labelled; my bottle was produced in November ‘22 by the Manginas family in Kalentzi, Peloponnese with Manaki and Megarthiki variety of olives. It has the most incredible grassy, herbiness with a tickling of pepperiness at the end. It has had a very busy week, appearing on new season’s asparagus and all the lovely British tomatoes that have just come in.
*AND let’s take a moment to admire these refill packs (below). You can subscribe to get the delicious oil sent to you through the post at any interval you prefer to re-fill your original bottle.
Something to fill you up
The Creamiest Asparagus Pasta
One for the asparagus lovers, this is the ultimate in nose-to-tail vegetable eating as it uses the whole spear. The tough bits you usually discard get braised until soft, then whizzed into a bright green, intensely asparagus-y sauce. Genius.
See my how-to video here
Serves 2
A bunch of asparagus
20g butter
A splash of oil
2 shallots or 1 white onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
150g double cream
30g Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
250g pasta of your choice (I used delicious Crosta & Mollica Fiorelli)
A few handfuls of toasted pine nuts, to serve
Lemon zest, to serve
Separate the tender part of the asparagus from the tough ends. Slice the tender part into 4-5 pieces, and finely slice the tough ends into thin coins.
In a pan over a medium heat, melt the butter with the splash of oil and gently fry the shallots with a pinch of salt until tender, about 5-7 minutes, then add the garlic and continue frying for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the sliced tough asparagus ends and allow to gently fry for 5 minutes until soft. Pop a lid on top if you want to speed this up.
Next, stir the double cream into the pan and gently simmer for 3-4 minutes until slightly reduced, then add the grated Parmesan and blitz with a stick blender (or transfer to a blender to puree) until smooth. Season with a little pepper and keep warm.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente, adding the sliced asparagus tops for the last 3 minutes until tender.
Drain, reserving a cup of pasta water. Pour the pasta and the asparagus into the warm sauce and over a very low heat, stir together with a few splashes of pasta water until the sauce nicely coats the pasta.
Transfer to plates and sprinkle over the pine nuts, a little extra Parmesan and some lemon zest.