Asparagus salad with pistachio dressing and morels

Back! At least I hope to post on a regular basis like I usually do, though this week is going to be rather busy, but we shall see. Now here I am with a light seasonal salad where green asparagus meets fresh morels and pistachio. I have a serious crash on pistachio, especially if it comes from Sicily. The basis for the dressing is pistachio paste that is boosted with a little honey, some mustard, basil and lime. Such tender green asparagus is really delicious eaten raw, but in order to bring some excitment I grilled half of them. Morels are the perfect mate of asparagus so enjoy it as long as both are still in season!

Ingredients:

for the dressing:
2 tablespoons pistachio paste
1 small garlic clove
1/2 shallot
zest and juice of a lime
1/4 teaspoon english mustard
4-5 fresh basil leaves
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon honey
if too thick 1-2 teaspoons water
salt
pepper

you'll also need:
400 g green asparagus
100 g fresh morels
4 handful of mixed salad leaves
1 teaspoon butter
1 twig thyme
salt
pepper

 

Wash salad and let it drain. Take half of the green asparagus and fry in almost smoking hot a griddle pan for 2-3 minutes or until it gets some colour. Half morels and sautee in butter with thyme. For the dressing blend everything together and season with salt and pepper. Mix raw and grilled asparagus together with the salad and dressing, add morels and season if necessary.