Tomos Parry’s grilled asparagus, wild garlic, brown butter and crisp egg

Growing up in Wales, I tasted leeks at their best, straight from the earth to the grill. When I’m on holiday with my family (somewhere coastal if we’re lucky), we’ll often find a way to cook over flames, even if it’s a small grill balanced on bricks or a battered old barbecue. I love wrapping leeks in slices of prosciutto, laying them carefully over the bars, and hearing that first quiet sizzle as the fat begins to render. It’s unfussy but deeply satisfying – perfect holiday cooking.

The first time I tried something similar was on the streets of Naples, where spring onions are cooked over open grills. When we do it in my restaurant, we blanch the leeks first, dry them properly, then give them smoke and time over the fire. The outer layers blister and sweeten, the ham tightens and crisps, and inside they turn soft and almost buttery. It’s a nice dish to share – sliced and placed on a board, covered with plenty of green sauce, then set in the middle of the table for everyone to help themselves.

When asparagus comes into season, it’s an exciting time for chefs and home cooks alike. It feels different from other produce; it’s fleeting, so there’s a real urgency to enjoy it while it lasts. When it arrives, you cook it often because you know it won’t be around for long. Get the grill hot, lay it down and leave it alone. Let it take on colour. It should still have that slight resistance when you eat it.

In London restaurants, it’s sometimes easy to lose connection with the countryside. So when boxes of wild garlic arrive, it’s inspiring. We turn it into sauces, dressings and oils; roast it simply on our wood-fired breads, wrap cheeses in the leaves before grilling, or wilt it into our meat sauces.

The wild fragrance reminds the chefs where things actually grow. The smell takes me straight back to rural Wales. You’d catch the scent before you saw it. Walking through damp woodland in spring, that unmistakable smell hanging in the air – green, pungent, almost sweet. The forest floor carpeted thick, brushing past it and sometimes carrying the scent with you for the rest of the day. That link between smell and memory is powerful. Even now, when I toss wild garlic through hot asparagus and the heat releases its perfume, I’m back there for a moment. Not in a nostalgic way: more as a reminder of place, of season, and of how food begins long before it reaches a kitchen.

Serves 2-3. Ready in 15 minutes.

This is the sort of thing I wait all year for – asparagus that’s thick, sweet, grassy and cooked so it takes on colour but keeps its bite. The rest is about contrast: nutty brown butter, sharp lemon, a fried egg with crisp edges, crumbs to catch the yolk. We do a similar dish at Mountain, where we cook the asparagus on a plancha and serve with a slow-cooked egg yolk. This version will work well at home.

unsalted butter 60g
lemon 1
thyme sprigs 2
sea salt and black pepper
British asparagus 1 bunch
wild garlic leaves 1 large handful
eggs 2-3
sourdough 1 thick slice
toasted almonds 1 small handful
extra-virgin olive oil

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Let it foam and settle, then cook until deep hazelnut brown and smelling sweet. Take it off the heat. Add thyme, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Let it sit, warm and fragrant.

Tear the sourdough into rough pieces and pulse in a food processor, or chop into coarse crumbs. Toast in olive oil in a pan until golden and crisp. Season lightly. Crush the toasted nuts, roughly not finely.

Trim the ends from the asparagus. Heat the grill or cast-iron pan to hot. Dress the asparagus lightly with olive oil and salt. Place it in the pan and leave on one side for 2 minutes, then turn and grill for 2-3 minutes on the other side. You want blistered tips and dark stripes, but still to have a snap inside.

While the asparagus is hot, toss through the wild garlic so it just wilts. Finely grate lemon zest directly over the asparagus while it’s warm – it will bloom in the heat and perfume the smoke.

Heat a heavy pan until it’s almost smoking. Add a generous amount of olive oil. Crack in the eggs and then leave them alone. Let them fry so the edges should frill and crisp deeply and the yolks set on the bottom but remain soft on top. Season well with sea salt and black pepper.

Lay the asparagus on warm plates. Spoon over the brown butter, then scatter with the toasted crumbs and crushed nuts and slide the egg over the top. Finish with more zest, a final squeeze of juice, cracked pepper and a thread of olive oil.

When you eat it, break the yolk so it runs into the crumbs and butter.

Leeks are more versatile than you might think, and if you get a bitterness on the outside from charring, it really brings out the inner sweetness. Cook them slowly and they go soft and sweet, almost creamy inside. Wrap them in air-dried ham and put them over fire and you get something smoky and salty that works well with this sharp, salty and fresh green sauce (a rough salsa verde) to cut through it all. Serves 4. Ready in 15 minutes.

leeks 8, medium
prosciutto (air-dried ham or streaky bacon) 8 thin slices
olive oil
flaky sea salt and black pepper

For the green sauce:
parsley 1 small bunch
wild garlic or chives 1 small handful
capers 1 tbsp
anchovy fillets 2
lemon ½
olive oil 4 tbsp

Trim the leeks, keeping enough of the green tops for them to hold together. Wash well to get the grit or mud that hides between the layers. Blanch in heavily salted boiling water for 3-4 minutes until just tender, then drain and dry completely. This step helps them cook evenly over fire without burning, while drying the leeks is very important as moisture stops the prosciutto crisping.

Toss the leeks lightly with oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap each one in a single layer of prosciutto – not too tightly. Put the leeks under a hot grill, turning gently – aim for blistered edges, and the prosciutto should tighten and crisp in spots.

If you’re doing this over a fire, cook over medium-hot embers for 6-8 minutes, moving between hotter and cooler areas as needed. You want a mix of soft interior and smoky char, which is slightly messy but sweet and salty in flavour. You can also cook in an oven for about 5 minutes at 200C/gas mark 6 to ensure they’re cooked through.

For the green sauce, finely chop the parsley, wild garlic or chives, capers and anchovy together, by hand. A coarse texture is better with this dish. Finely grate in the lemon zest, and add a good squeeze of lemon juice and the olive oil until loose and glossy. It should be salty, punchy and fresh.

To serve, slice the leeks and lay on a plate or board. Spoon the green sauce over and finish with olive oil and cracked pepper. A tip: it’s best to use a very sharp knife to slice the prosciutto-wrapped leeks, as it results in nice, clean cuts. If you wanted to bring some creaminess into the dish, you could serve this with some yoghurt seasoned with lemon, salt and pepper.