We are almost in the last week of the Scottish asparagus season.
We will be lucky enough to have some British asparagus for maybe another few weeks as they tend to be able to have it slightly longer further south.
This is a simple, special lunch/brunch snack that keeps everyone happy.
I remember a few years ago at the BBC waiting to go on air on MacAulay & Co. John Bishop was going on after me to discuss his up-coming tour and I had these tasty muffins in my basket. He said what’s in there, it smells amazing and, being a veggie, he was absolutely thrilled. He asked if he could have one, saying ‘Fred wont mind!’. He even mentioned how nice they were on air after my slot. So there you go, as if pleasing Mr MacAulay with my basket of treats was not great, they also made another comedian happy!
Cheesy asparagus muffins
Makes 12 large muffins
Preparation 15 minutes
Cook 25 - 30 minutes
Ingredients
12 spears of Scottish/British asparagus
400g of self raising flour
200g of cheddarcheese, cut into small cubes
125g of butter
1 small bunch of chives, snipped into pieces
150ml of milk
100ml of plain yogurt
1tsp of English mustard
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas 6.
2 Line a 12 hole muffin tin with cases.
3 Cut the asparagus stems into small pieces, about 1cm in length, leaving the tips a little longer and blanch in boiling water for a couple of minutes.
4 Drain and refresh under cold running water, separating the tips from the pieces of stem.
5 In a large bowl, mix the flour with the cubes of cheese.
6 Melt the butter and pour into a jug. Stir through the chives, milk, yogurt, mustard and eggs. Mix well until combined and season generously with salt and pepper.
7 Gently fold the wet ingredients into the flour and cheese, and stir through the asparagus stems. Be careful not to over mix and stop as soon as the mixture is combined.
8 Spoon the mixture evenly between the muffin cases and push an asparagus tip into the middle of each.
9 Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden.
10 Best eaten hot out of the oven, spread with a little cold butter.
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