Name: Artichoke, Wild Asparagus, Purslane and Olive Salad on Bruschetta
Ingredients: a little salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 lemons; small handful of mint, coarsely torn; 2 large tomatillos; 300 g wild asparagus, stalk end trimmed; 4 thick slices of heavy sourdough or similar bread; 200 ml extra-virgin olive oil; handful of purslane or other interesting salad greens; large handful of olives (I used the crunchy unpasteurized petite Lucques Royal from Provence); 600 g best-quality buffalo mozzarella (I used half of a 300 g cheese per portion); 4 large globe artichokes, trimmed and prepared and placed in acidulated water as described; handful of fresh thyme; 1 bay leaf; 5 garlic cloves

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Salads

By Peter Gordon

Published 2005

About

Wild asparagus are a beautiful shade of green, with a lovely grassy asparagus taste. They arrive around May in the UK and if you have trouble finding them just use thin asparagus. The buffalo mozzarella I used for this dish was truly delicious – and truly expensive, as it was flown in from Napoli the day before. It was a taste experience that photographer Jean Cazals said he’d not had before but would like to repeat often. Tomatillos can be replaced with tomatoes, but choose ones that are s