artichoke, asparagus, broad bean and almond pilaf

I'd like to say that one of the problems I have with attempting to eat seasonally whilst supporting UK farmers, is finding honest-to-goodness produce from Blighty. But that's not strictly true, because whilst happy to get all huffy that my asparagus comes from Ecuador rather than Evesham, I still buy it because it's seasonal, and conveniently ignore the fact it's had to fly here so I can buy it.

Sadly my issue is much more prosaic and not particularly ethical: Finding enough recipes to tackle the growing mountain of international asparagus logs building up in the fridge. For one reason or another, this year has been particularly ripe for killer angiosperm recipes, with last night's beetroot and lentil combination and Franco Mazzei's risotto being good cases in point. Tonight is another step in that direction, although to be perfectly honest, it's the not best asparagus dish I've come across.

Sadly, despite a fairly hefty list of ingredients, it's not a hugely flavour-packed meal. In fact it flirts with being a bit wishy-washy, with the strongest notes coming from the lemon juice and the oil from the artichoke oil. Oh well, onwards and upwards.

Wine Time
I'm not going to be surprising anybody I don't think when I suggest a green Sauv might be the way to go, for all the usual reasons of matching the herbaceous flavours of the asparagus as well as the lemon juice. However, let's go slightly off-beam and rather than New Zealand or the Loire, why not try a cheeky hombre from Chile? You might have to do some research to separate the tropical fruit bombs, from the nettle-y numbers you're looking for, but at half the price (generally) it's definitely worth asking some questions in the offie.

sources
artichoke, asparagus, broad bean and almond pilaf - Delicious, June 2013, p99