The inspiration for this new season spring salad comes from that expression our mothers often used – “eat your greens”.

 The asparagus and courgette pasta salad is packed with delicious greens easily swapped out for whatever green vegetables you have on hand.

Broccolini makes an ideal substitute for asparagus when it is out of season and the buffalo mozzarella and parmesan cheese add a wonderful rich flavour as do the lemon and capers. Feel free to add more lemon juice and capers to suit your own individual taste and desired level of acidity.

This salad is wonderful when served with barbequed spring lamb rump or simply by itself accompanied by fresh crusty French bread.  The Remarkables Market often has fresh locally grown asparagus available in late spring so keep an eye out for it. 

Jane Shaw / Provisions Cafe

At Provisions Café we are looking forward to planting up our spring garden and flowerpots for the summer season ahead in our café orchard garden. Spring is a wonderful time to enjoy seasonal produce as it starts to become more readily available and we will be switching up our café menu with fresh spring dishes. 

Ingredients:

½ pkt penne pasta

½ cup sunflower oil for frying

3 medium courgettes cut into slices on an angle

2 bunches either asparagus or broccolini

2 red onions each cut into eighths

2  Tbsps red wine vinegar

1 cup edamame beans

2 cups basil leaves

½ cup parsley leaves (discard the stems)

 1/3 cup olive oil

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 Tbsps capers

1 tub (212g) buffalo mozzarella torn into chunks

100g parmesan shaved 

Generous amount of salt & pepper and juice of extra ½ lemon to taste

Method:

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

Heat sunflower oil in a frying pan and fry off the courgettes in batches until golden, drain in colander and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt, then transfer to a bowl and dress with red wine vinegar

 Roast the red onions tossed on a lined baking tray with the garlic and 2 Tbsps olive oil and juice of half lemon and salt and pepper at 350c for ten minutes. Remove from oven and add the asparagus or broccolini  and toss through and return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes until greens are just cooked through

Cook frozen shelled edamame beans for 3-4 minutes in the boiling water, remove with sieve and refresh under cold water.  

Blitz in a food processor 1 cup chopped basil with all the parsley leaves along with 1/3 cup olive oil, lemon zest, ¼ cup  of the cooked edamame beans and juice of remaining half of lemon.

Cook pasta until al dente and run under cold water.  Return to the pot and mix roasted greens and onion, beans, capers, herb oil, shaved parmesan and mozzarella with generous amount of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste along with juice of another half lemon. Toss through the remaining basil leaves and serve piled on a serving platter.