In my series featuring a first-day recipe and a follow-up easy recipe making use of any leftovers, we finally get some British asparagus on the plate! There’s not a huge amount of vegetables cropping at the moment, which makes these mighty spears all the more special once they come into season. Whenever UK asparagus finally gets into the shops (or the veg patch!), I'm all over it - pasta, risotto, quiche, frittata, steamed, roasted... making the most of those eight weeks or so that it’s available.
My first recipe is made with a selection of roast vegetables - feel free to mix it up according to what you have to hand - aromatic fennel, sweet red onion and trusty courgette are all favourites. You could also add mushrooms, aubergine or broccoli. I added the asparagus a bit later on to retain a bit of bite - vary timings if necessary, depending on the veg.
The roast veg come with fish baked 'en papillote', basically a pretty parchment parcel of white fish, flavoured here with the fennel fronds, lemon, butter and a handful of black olives. The result is a dish that is light, flavourful, and bursting with vitamins and nutrients. Set aside some of the vegetables for an easy frittata the next day.
White fish steamed in parcels with lemon, olives and roasted vegetables
An easily adaptable recipe - use whatever fish and vegetables are available. Asparagus is ideal as a core ingredient in the roast vegetables this month.
Serves 4
Ingredients
For the roasted vegetables:
- 1 large fennel bulb, sliced, fronds reserved
- 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
- 1 courgette, sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeds removed, cut into chunks
- 1 yellow pepper, seeds removed, cut into chunks
- 8 garlic cloves, peeled, lightly crushed
- dash olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 large bunch asparagus, trimmed
- small handful fresh thyme, leaves picked
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the fish:
- 4 x 150g boneless, skinless firm white fish fillets
- 4 lemon slices
- handful kalamata olives
- dash olive oil
- knob of butter
- chopped chives, to serve
For the spicy mayo (optional):
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- Sriracha sauce, to taste
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Put the fennel red onion, courgette, red pepper, yellow pepper and garlic in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Toss to combine and then tip onto two roasting trays and roast for about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. After 10 minutes, add the trimmed asparagus to one of the roasting trays and drizzle with a little more oil.
Halfway through the cooking time, swap the trays around and give the vegetables a quick stir, and a few minutes before they are cooked, sprinkle over the fresh thyme leaves.
For the fish, cut out four sheets of parchment paper and dampen under cold, running water. Put a piece of fish in the middle of each piece of paper, top with the reserved fennel fronds, a slice of lemon, a few olives for each parcel, a further drizzle of olive oil for each and a little butter. Season with salt and pepper, then wrap up each paper parcel.
Put the parcels on another baking tray and cook for about 15 minutes - check that the fish is cooked, by opening up one of the parcels and pressing the fish in the thickest part to check that it is not opaque.
If using, mix together the mayonnaise and Sriracha in a small bowl to make the spicy mayo. Serve each fish parcel with the roasted vegetables and spicy mayo. Garnish with chopped chives.
Vegetable frittata with bacon and oregano
Omit the bacon for a vegetarian version of this flavour-packed frittata. Serve warm out of the oven, or cut into slices to take on a picnic or for a work lunch the next day.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- dash olive oil
- 6 rashers smoked bacon, roughly chopped
- 400g leftover roasted vegetables
- 2 sprigs of fresh oregano, chopped only, chopped
- 8 free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp double cream
- 70g Cheddar cheese, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Heat a dash of olive oil in a 22cm ovenproof frying pan, add the chopped bacon and cook until nicely browned. Tip in the roasted vegetables and stir together. Sprinkle over the oregano and mix together.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the cream and grated cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables in the pan and cook for a few more minutes until just beginning to set. Transfer the frying pan to the oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes - take care as it is easy to forget that the handle is really hot. Make sure that you don't touch it!
Check that the egg is cooked and set all the way through and remove it from the oven. Serve in slices.
About Ramona
Ramona Andrews is a highly experienced food writer and digital content producer. She worked for the BBC Food website for many years, during which time the site won a BAFTA nomination, World Food Media Award and Guild of Food Writers Award. After studying to be a chef, she went to work for the UKTV Food website (now Good Food Channel) and has also worked as a restaurant reviewer for Time Out and Square Meal. She now lives in Bristol and dedicates much of her time to working on food policy change campaigns, as well as keeping her hand in recipe testing and shooting for bigger food clients and publications in her kitchen studio. The Lazy Susan team are looking forward to giving the delicious recipes she’s creating for our blog a try.
