Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad

Serves: 4 - Time:

Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad
Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad

Make the most of the British asparagus which has appeared early this year due to the mild winter. This is a very easy salad to rustle up – perfect for a weekday supper or for picnics and lunchboxes. I love orzo pasta-the delicate little grains of rice-like pasta work so well in salads. I probably cook it more than rice-and the bonus is you don’t need to worry about keeping it chilled as you do for cold rice.

 

Ingredients

  • 275g orzo pasta
  • 500g British asparagus, trimmed
  • 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 240g crayfish tails
  • 50g rocket, roughly torn
Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad

Method

  1. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and bring back to the boil. Cook for about 7-8 minutes or until the grains are al dente-that is still with a little bite to them. Drain and refresh under cold water. Drain well and place in a large bowl.
  2. Heat the oven to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c , mark 6. Place the asparagus in a roasting tin and toss with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and ground black pepper and roast in the oven for 18-20 minutes until tender. Leave to cool then cut in half and add to the pasta.
  3. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, red chilli, crayfish and rocket. Taste and season the salad with a little salt and black pepper.
Roasted asparagus, orzo and crayfish salad