Marcus Bean says:

"I love this as it’s one of the first asparagus dishes I put on the menu at the pub.  We use wild asparagus from a local stream across the field from the pub, soft poached Shropshire quails’ eggs and some punchy wasabi. It's a firm favourite on our menu during the season because it’s a great combination of flavours.”

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 5 minutes

You’ll need:

8 stems of asparagus (4 per person)
2 quail’s eggs
2 tbsp of freshly cracked black pepper
1 tsp of freshly grated British wasabi
1 tsp honey
50ml of olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
A½ tsp of Dijon mustard
100g fresh watercress


What to do:

To cook the asparagus place in a steamer until just cooked then place in ice water to stop cooking and allow the asparagus to keep that lovely green colour. Put a small pan of water on the hob, bring to the boil then add your quails’ eggs and cook for 2 minutes 15 seconds then put into ice water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes peel the eggs in the water for ease.

For the dressing mix the olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey, mustard and fresh wasabi until combined, then set aside.

Once the quail eggs are peeled, grab your freshly cracked black pepper and roll the eggs in it until the white is covered. Put your watercress in a bowl, slice your asparagus into 3 pieces per stem, now drizzle the watercress and asparagus with the wasabi dressing and then lightly season.  Very carefully slice your quail eggs in half, then add them to the plate with the asparagus and watercress.

Submitted by www.british-asparagus.co.uk