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Vale of Evesham Asparagus

For the tastiest – and easiest – spring supper dish, try this classic recipe from Sarah at Old Farm Dorn! 

We couldn’t do a recipe for the May edition without using asparagus: more is grown in Worcestershire than anywhere else in the UK and asparagus from the Vale is said to be the best in the world!

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Although it is often in the shops in early April, the taste is best once the weather has warmed up – we have just had our first delivery from WR Haines of Chipping Campden! Teamed up with our dry-cured Glamrock bacon bits, Holmleigh Dairy double cream and Barber’s Cheddar, it makes a really tasty, quick and easy supper dish. For more recipe ideas have a look here.  

Creamy pasta with bacon and asparagus

 Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 400g pasta
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp Cotswold Gold rape seed oil 2 garlic cloves (leave whole but squash with flat part of knife to bruise it)
  • 150-200g Old Farm Glamrock bacon bits
  • 350-400g Evesham asparagus
  • 120ml Holmleigh Dairy cream
  • 75g grated Barber’s cheddar cheese
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • pinch nutmeg (optional)
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Method

  1. Break off the woody bottom part of the asparagus and discard. Cut off the tips and chop the rest into 1-2 cm pieces.
  2. Cook the pasta in lightly salted boiling water as per instructions.
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon until beginning to brown. Add the garlic and asparagus stems and continue to cook for 3- 4 minutes until almost tender, then add the tips and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove garlic and drain off excess oil.
  4. When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pan. Stir in the cheese, cream and nutmeg, then add the asparagus and bacon with a generous amount of black pepper.

About Old Farm Dorn

We are third generation farmers on a small tenant farm, one mile north of Moreton-in-Marsh. Sustainability is something we really care about at Old Farm, and we believe that by following traditional farming methods we can help in the fight against climate change.

We took over the farm from my husband Simon’s parents in 2002 and since then have installed a cutting room and farm shop so that we can offer people a chance to buy local and know exactly where their food is produced. Our abattoir is only 7 miles away and all our meat is packaged at the farm where we also make sausages, bacon and gammons.

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Our sheep & Hereford cattle graze permanent pastureland that could not be used for growing crops. Well-managed grazing systems can sequester enough carbon to entirely compensate for the greenhouse gases these systems release. Our ‘Glamrock’ pigs (a cross between a Gloucestershire Old Spot, Tamworth, Hampshire and Duroc) are housed in straw yards and outside in tents. Hay and silage is made on the farm to feed stock over the winter, reducing transport costs and emissions. Straw from the arable crops is used for bedding and manure is put back onto the arable land to reduce the need for artificial fertilisers and we are currently trialling a ‘no-till’ approach to improve soil quality.

We use compostable trays for packing meat in the farm shop where possible and stock cleaning product re-fills, locally made beeswax food wraps and goat milk soap and shampoo bars.

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