Warm salad of new potatoes and asparagus

50g unsalted butter
2kg new potatoes, cleaned and halved
20 asparagus spears
200g fresh Parmesan, shaved

For the lemon vinaigrette:
Juice and zest of 4 lemons
250ml sunolive oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
1 small bunch of chives, chopped
1 small bunch of dill, chopped
1 tablespoon Maldon sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

1. Cook the new potatoes until just tender, about 13-15 minutes. Drain.
2. Cut long strips of lemon zest and juice the fruit. #Remove the woody base from the asparagus. Use a vegetable peeler to cut the asparagus into long strips.
3. Mix all the ingredients for the vinaigrette, except the chives and dill. Put these aside until ready to serve the warm salad.
4. Shave the Parmesan cheese.
5. Melt the butter in a large pan. When melted, add the halved, drained potatoes and the asparagus strips. Turn in the hot butter for a minute or two. Remove from the heat, add the Parmesan shavings and the chopped herbs. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little lemon vinaigrette.

The salad is great with grilled fish.

Posted: 08 May 2010