Serves 4

This delicious salad makes the most of the fabulous but short English asparagus season, incorporating it with other fresh spring vegetables to make a wonderful dish laden with spring flavours- perfect served either warm or cold. It makes a wonderful spring lunch or serve alongside grilled chicken or rare roast beef and new potatoes as a filling midweek meal.

 Ingredients

• 350g cherry tomatoes- halved
• 2 bunches asparagus
• 2 courgettes
• 1 bag rocket
• 2 packets mozzerella
• olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• bunch basil leaves
• sea salt
• black pepper

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees C. Mix the tomatoes with a healthy glug of olive oil and season with plenty of sea salt and a grind of pepper. Spread them out on a baking tray and roast in the oven for about 1 hour or until semi dried.
2. Trim off the woody asparagus bases and blanch for approximately 4 minutes in salted boiling water or until just tender. Drain and refresh in cold water several times to make sure the spears are completely cold. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
3. Slice the courgettes thinly on a mandolin lengthwise (if you don’t have mandolin you can use a vegetable peeler). Mix with some olive oil and salt and pepper.
4. Place a griddle pan on a high heat and leave to get very hot. Griddle the courgettes and asparagus on each side until they get nice char marks. Remove and leave to cool.
5. To make the basil oil blitz all the ingredients in a small blender until smooth.
6. To assemble layer rocket, tomatoes, vegetables and roughly torn mozzerella on a serving platter or shallow bowl. Drizzle with as much basil oil as you like.