Letitia says: “One of the best ways of cooking wild asparagus that I know, here the spears are braised down to a rich, pond-green mulch into which plentiful butter and Parmesan is melted, and then used to coat the pasta.

“If you cannot find wild asparagus, cultivated is fine – just try to choose English, skinnier stems. As this involves a foraged ingredient, and I never know how much I can get hold of, I adjust this recipe accordingly. If you have a healthy quantity of asparagus and want to taste it in its purity, by all means leave out the tomato.”

Serves 2 as a primo

Ingredients

about 150–200g asparagus
200g pasta of your choice (I use malloreddus)
4 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
1 small white onion, finely sliced
1 small dried red chilli, crumbled, or a pinch of chilli (hot pepper) flakes
3 or 4 small, sweet tomatoes, diced (optional)
splash of white wine (optional)
40g butter
40g Parmesan or pecorino, finely grated, plus extra to serve
salt, to taste
fresh marjoram, to garnish (optional)

Method

First wash your asparagus well. Cut it into 2.5 cm (1 in) pieces and set any woody ends aside.

Put a pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta, adding the discarded woody bits of the asparagus to flavour it. Once boiling, fish out the asparagus ends and then drop in the pasta. Cook the pasta until it is just al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over a medium heat and sweat the onion, asparagus and chilli for a good 10–15 minutes or so, until soft and beginning to fall apart. Add a splash of water and continue to cook down, slowly, until the asparagus is almost completely soft. Add the tomatoes and cook again until everything is mushy and the asparagus is completely tender, adding a little extra oil or water if necessary (you can add a splash of white wine here, if you prefer). Taste and season with salt.

Drain the pasta, reserving a little of the cooking water. Add the butter to the sauce, along with the drained pasta and the Parmesan/pecorino. Add a little pasta cooking water and continue to cook for a minute or so, stirring gently, until the sauce is creamy and coating the pasta evenly. Serve, sprinkled with extra cheese and a few marjoram sprigs (if using).

You can make this without the tomatoes and cook the asparagus less for a fresher flavour and to keep the spears intact, if you prefer.

Variation: wild asparagus and bottarga pasta by Luigi

An excellent dish I ate made by my honey-making friend Luigi. Follow the recipe for the asparagus pasta above, leaving out the tomato. Once you have drained the pasta and added it to the pan with the braised asparagus, add 3 tablespoonfuls of finely grated bottarga and a little extra water. Stir and toss well until creamy, season and serve.

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