The virtual Chelsea Flower week was inspiring but of course not quite the same. I was to be at Chelsea Thursday last, instead I celebrated in my garden with dear friends and served a Spring floral lunch.
Check out my video on how I set the tables in the garden on You-tube below
To set the tables, I used tea towels as table cloths, just the perfect size for my garden coffee tables. I set the tables with vintage with and gold rimmed desserts plates, floral napkins and silver cutlery. I added for fun water tumblers with flamingos and tulip champagne glasses by Laurent Perrier.
I served:
- Alice Waters’ warm grilled almonds with rosemary from my garden
- Roasted carrot fries with boil leaf from my garden
- Ricotta cream dip with chives from my garden
- A lukewarm white asparagus soup with marigolds from the framers veg bag(*)
- Filo pastry pizza with ricotta, white asparagus, baby fennel and flowers from the farmers veg bag(*)
- Rhubarb (*) and frangipane tart (blitz my own almonds to flour) (recipe to perfect still)
- To drink: Mint and cucumber filtered tap water – Hibiscus ice-tea from Kusmi (Melange Glace AquaFizz) – pink champagne (of course!)
(*) the restaurant Humus X Hortense farmers veg bag of Dries at Monde des mille couleurs farm.
The warm grilled nuts are just a delight and easy to roast in the oven when a friend pops over unexpectedly.
White asparagus are in season from end April to end June, so I eat them weekly !
TIPs:
- To cut the filo easier, use a pair of kitchen sheers.
- You can prepare almost every thing in advance but only brush the filo just before placing in the oven. Filo pastry dries out quickly when exposed to the air and becomes cardboard hard.
- If you can’t get a hold of edible flowers, toss over some fresh herbs like fennel, chives and mint or arugula (roquette) leaves.
- You can replace the ricotta cream with a basil pesto.
I love soups but in falls and winter, the only exception I make is for white asparagus soup. As we are in the middle fo the season some asparagus may very thick and fleshy. This is less elegant to eat so I blizt those stems in a soup and only serve the delicate tips.
Top with any blanched vegetable in season and you can enjoy a simple yet stunning dish. Top with herbs and flowers or dried spices.
My filo pastry pizza with white asparagus, ricotta and flowers
Yield 4 portions
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 layers of filo pastry
- olive oil and a good brush
- 30 gr ricotta cream
- about 10 white asparagus
- 3-4 baby fennels
- edible flowers : violets, nasturtiums, marigolds
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil in salted water and cook the peeled white asparagus until they are soft yet retain a bite, about 10 - 15 minutes. Drain and let cool.
- Lay out the 1st layer of filo pastry on a baking tray lined with baking paper, brush with some olive oil the filo layer, add second layer of filo pastry, repeat brush and layer till all 5 layers are brushed and stacked. Add the ricotta cream evenly over the top layer. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Cut the baby fennels in half. Top the filo with the cooked and cooled white asparagus, add the baby fennel in between.
- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180C, remove from oven and top with edible flowers and serve immediately.
Notes
on www.leeksandhighheels.com by Sandra Slawinski
Written and photographed by Sandra Slawinski without commercial deals. I used my porcelain menu card, vintage tart platter and Algerian ice coffee mugs found on a vintage market. Garden terracotta pots from the garden center ( I did not use them to grow plants in). Tea towels from ZaraHome. Tulip Laurent Perrier glasses came with a bottle I bought years ago. Ikea flamingo glasses. Silver cutlery from my parents restaurant.
