Salad of Beans, Raw Asparagus and Parma Ham

Vibrant, lemony top notes give this salad a lift. Like all simple dishes, it depends on good ingredients, put together thoughtfully. Choose a good olive oil, season carefully with salt to enhance the flavours and eat the salad immediately.

Preparation time :	10 minutes
Total time :	10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

400g tin cannellini beans, drained
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 unwaxed lemon, juice and grated zest of 1/2
350g green asparagus
2 celery sticks, thinly sliced
5g oregano
12 slices Parma ham
75g parmesan, shaved

Method

1. Put the beans in a bowl and dress with 1 tbsp olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper; set aside.
2. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus, then cut the spears into fine 2mm slices, on the bias. Put in a bowl with the celery. Remove the leaves from the oregano and scatter over; dress with 2 tbsp oil, 1½ tbsp lemon juice, half the lemon zest, and salt and pepper.
3. Put a little of the salad on each of 4 plates, arrange a slice of Parma ham on top with some beans and Parmesan shavings and continue to layer until all the ingredients are evenly distributed, finish with a small squeeze of lemon, a scattering of lemon zest and the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Serve at once.

Drinks recommendation

Dry, fruity and pink: rosé captures the summer mood of this salad, and combines happily with its kitchen-garden flavours.