Daylesford's herbed salad of Jersey Royals with asparagus and pancetta recipe

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

300g Jersey Royals
1 tsp olive oil
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed
6 quail’s eggs
4 thin slices of pancetta or Parma ham
10g fresh dill, roughly chopped
10g fresh chives or parsley, roughly chopped

Dressing:
4 tbsp garlic mayonnaise
2 tbsp organic yoghurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
a generous twist of black pepper

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the Jersey Royals and simmer for 15–20 minutes, until just soft. Strain, run under cold water and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan until smoking hot. Using your hands, rub the olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt over the asparagus and transfer the spears to the hot griddle. Cook for 4–5 minutes until some lovely char marks begin to appear, then turn the spears and continue to cook them until just softened. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Before preparing the quail’s eggs have a bowl of iced water at the ready. Bring a small pan of water to a gentle simmer and gently add the eggs. Cook for 2½ minutes before removing from the pan and immediately plunging them into the iced water. Allow to cool before peeling and cutting each egg in half lengthways – hopefully revealing a rich, runny yolk.

Place the pancetta or ham on a baking tray then cook in the oven for 4–8 minutes, until dark and crispy. Break into shards and set aside.

Make your dressing by combining everything in a bowl and mixing thoroughly. Stir half the chopped herbs through the dressing and set aside the remainder.

Toss the cooled potatoes in half of the dressing and arrange in a bowl or platter. Lay the asparagus, quail’s eggs, pancetta and remaining herbs over the top before drizzling over the remaining dressing.