Warm salad of asparagus, brie and bacon

Sorry it’s been a little while since my last post. I didn’t in fact even intend to write about my little Sunday lunch until I’d eaten the first mouthful, hence the somewhat rough photograph. Yet again I am in a situation of seeing what’s in the kitchen then making something with it. It being May, good asparagus is easy to come by. I have a nice bunch and a fresh and simple lunch dish on a relaxing Sunday seems a good idea. When the sun is shining  the idea of a traditional heavy roast dinner seems unappetising and more fresh and elegant dishes are called for to help with the enjoyment of our day of rest.

Asparagus doesn’t like to be overcomplicated. It has a distinctive flavour that is so fantastic on its own it needn’t be combined with strong ingredients. What I always find asparagus does need however is something salty, something creamy and something acidic. The following dish combines all these things and is so astoundingly easy that you can whip it up in ten minutes or so.

First of all I make a dressing. You could make a bog standard vinaigrette which would be more than adequate. For mine I use a teaspoon of French mustard, the juice of half a lemon, a large tablespoon of mayonnaise and a glug of good olive oil, seasoned with salt an pepper.

I then pop some streaky bacon on an oven tray into a hot oven, cooking it until crispy then removing to dry on some kitchen roll. I turn the oven off but close the remaining heat in for reasons to be revealed later on.

While the bacon is crisping up I steam some asparagus just enough to be hot and crunchy. When done, I place four spears of asparagus on a plate, then pop a few slices of brie on them before layering another four spears on top. This plate can then go into the still warm oven for about three or four minutes just to allow the brie to ooze. It’s important here also to “ooze” and not melt. If it melts it will separate and that’ll make it go oily on the plate.

Once “oozing” you can top with the bacon rashers and drizzle with some dressing. I garnished with a chopped mix of freshly picked parsley, chervil and tarragon.

A lovely fresh and tasty lunch for a sunny Sunday…