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A Delicious Vegan Friendly Pasta Dish, Using Fresh New Season English Asparagus & Mushrooms

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A celebration of spring’s finest produce, this vibrant vegan dish pairs tender new-season English asparagus with earthy mushrooms and perfectly cooked vegan pasta for a simple yet stunning meal. It’s the kind of dinner that feels indulgent but is packed with goodness — light, fresh, and deeply satisfying.

The asparagus, with its delicate crunch and grassy sweetness, is the star here. Harvested at its peak, it brings a bright, green freshness that sings of springtime. Quickly blanched or sautéed, it retains its vivid colour and just the right amount of bite. Complementing it are caramelised button mushrooms, pan-seared until golden and rich with umami, adding depth and warmth to the dish.

The pasta — your choice of wholewheat, lentil, or classic durum wheat — forms a soft, comforting base, catching every drop of the garlic aroma. A pinch of chilli flakes adds a gentle kick.

This dish is as budget-friendly as it is beautiful. Ready in under 25 minutes, it requires just a handful of ingredients and no fancy equipment — ideal for a midweek dinner or a casual weekend lunch. It’s healthy without trying too hard, rich in fibre, vitamins, and plant-based protein, yet feels like a little treat.

A scattering of toasted pine nuts or crushed walnuts adds texture, while a dusting of nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan provides a final savoury flourish. Served warm or at room temperature, perhaps with a glass of chilled white wine or sparkling water with mint, it’s a dish that captures the essence of the season — fresh, green, and full of life.

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A Delicious Vegan Friendly Pasta Dish, Using Fresh New Season English Asparagus & Mushrooms
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan
Cuisine: British
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 persons
 
Ingredients
  • 8 ounces pasta rotini preferred
  • 1 bunch English asparagus
  • 8 ounces button mushrooms or field mushrooms sliced
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable stock
  • 

2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 pinch red pepper flake
  • ½ cup soya milk or other unsweetened plant milk
  • 

2 teaspoons cornstarch (or potato starch or arrowroot)
Instructions
  1. Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water according to package instructions. Just before it's done, scoop out and reserve 1½ cup of the pasta water. Drain pasta and return to pan.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, prepare the asparagus by snapping off the ends: Hold the bottom of the spear in one hand and grasp it with the other hand about 2 inches away. Bend the spear and allow it to break. Discard the ends, and then cut the asparagus into pieces about 1½-inch long.
  3. Heat a large covered skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the asparagus and cook for a minute or two.
  4. Add ¼ cup water and quickly cover. Allow the asparagus to steam for 2 minutes. Uncover and add the mushrooms. Add a splash of water if it seems dry and cover. Cook for about 2 minutes or until mushrooms exude their juices. (If it seems too dry, add a splash of water.) Uncover,
  5. add the garlic, and cook for a minute or two.
  6. Add the vegetables to the pasta and combine well. Keep warm on the lowest heat setting.
  7. Put 1 cup of the pasta water into a small saucepan. Place it over medium high heat and add the stock, basil, nutritional yeast, crushed garlic, and red pepper. As it comes to a boil, whisk together the plant milk and starch in a small bowl and add it to the saucepan. Cook, stirring, until it boils and thickens slightly. Pour it over the pasta and vegetables, and stir to coat. If it seems dry, add a little of the remaining pasta water.
  8. Check the seasonings and add salt and black pepper to taste.

 

Delicious Warm, Foraged, Wild Garlic Bread

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Nestled in the heart of spring, this wild garlic bread is a celebration of the season’s most vibrant offering. Hand-foraged from lush, shaded woodlands, the wild garlic infuses the loaf with its unmistakable aroma — fresh, earthy, and gently pungent — a natural perfume that fills the kitchen as it bakes. The leaves, chopped finely and folded generously into a soft, enriched dough, create vivid green marbling throughout each slice, offering both beauty and bold flavor.

Golden and crisp on the outside, the crust cracks gently under the pressure of your fingers, giving way to a pillowy interior, tender and steaming when torn apart. The scent intensifies as the loaf is broken open, releasing warm notes of garlic, yeast, and a whisper of butter. It’s the kind of bread that begs to be shared — laid in the center of the table, still warm, with pieces pulled off and passed around, fingers brushing, laughter mingling with the sound of crust tearing.

Each bite is a textural delight — the contrast of crunchy crust and airy crumb, punctuated by the mellow, green sharpness of wild garlic. There’s a rustic charm to it, a reminder of barefoot walks through damp meadows and baskets filled with wild greens. Delicious on its own or dipped into olive oil, slathered with salted butter, or paired with soft cheeses, it transforms the simplest meal into something memorable.

This bread isn’t just baked — it’s gathered, kneaded, and loved into life. It’s wild and soulful, a reminder of the bounty just beyond our doors, and of the quiet magic found in the act of sharing food made with our hands and the gifts of nature.

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Delicious Warm, Foraged, Wild Garlic Bread
Author: 
Recipe type: Foraged
Cuisine: British Woodland Food
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • DOUGH
  • * 750 g wheat flour
  • * 400 ml water, lukewarm
  • * 1 tsp sugar
  • * 42 g fresh yeast, corresponds to 1 cube
  • * 2 tsp salt
  • * 5 tbsp olive oil
  • WILD GARLIC BUTTER
  • * 200 g vegan butter, soft
  • * 40 g wild garlic
  • * ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
  1. * For the dough, first mix the lukewarm water (only around 35-40 degrees Celsius) and the sugar. Crumble in the yeast and dissolve by stirring. Let stand in a warm place for about 5-10 minutes to activate the yeast.
  2. * Put the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil and knead everything into a smooth dough for a few minutes. Shape the finished dough into a large ball. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for at least 1 hour. Now also prepare the wild garlic butter or put it out of the refrigerator so that it can become soft.
  3. * Roll out the dough into a long rectangle on a floured work surface and brush with ¾ of the soft wild garlic butter. Halve the rectangle from the short side. Then cut from the long side into strips approx. 5-6 cm thick and roll them up. Don't worry, you don't have to work exact here. Place the dough rolls close together in a greased springform pan (we use one with a diameter of 21 cm). Below you can find pictures of these steps.
  4. * Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Since springform pans are usually not completely tight, place a pan underneath in the oven to catch any melting fat. Bake the wild garlic bread for about 40-45 minutes until the crust is lightly brown and crispy. Brush the bread with the rest of the wild garlic butter and bake for another 5 minutes.
  5. * Take out of the oven and let cool down before cutting.
  6. WILD GARLIC BUTTER
  7. * Wash wild garlic and spin dry. Roughly cut into small pieces with a knife.
  8. * Mix the wild garlic, salt and the softened butter (in small pieces) either in a tall, narrow container with a hand blender or in a food processor. Like this it can be used for the recipe.
  9. * If you make more butter and want to keep it: put the vegan wild garlic butter in a clean container or form a roll in cling film. The wild garlic butter can be kept in the fridge for at least 1-2 weeks. But it can also be frozen wonderfully.

 

Classic Foraged Early Springtime Stinging Nettle Soup

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A classic bowl of foraged springtime stinging nettle soup is a celebration of the season’s earliest green gifts — wild, vivid, and nourishing. Emerging just as winter’s grip loosens, young stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) are among the first wild edibles to carpet forest floors and hedgerows. Gathered with care (and gloves!), their tender tops are packed with vitamins A, C, and iron, making them a staple for revitalizing springtime fare.

The soup begins simply. In a pot, onions and leeks are softened in butter or olive oil until sweet and golden. A couple of garlic cloves follow, just kissed by heat to release their aroma. Potatoes, diced small, are added next to lend body and creaminess. After a few stirs, vegetable or chicken stock is poured in, and the pot simmers until the potatoes yield easily to a fork.

Now, the star ingredient: fresh nettles, washed and stripped from their stems. The sting disappears within seconds of cooking, replaced by a deep green earthiness that’s somewhere between spinach and sorrel. They’re wilted briefly in the broth, their color bright and life-affirming.

A quick blend transforms everything into a velvety, emerald-hued soup. A swirl of cream or a spoonful of yogurt can soften its wild edge, and a grating of nutmeg or a squeeze of lemon sharpens it into balance. Some prefer it rustic, others pass it through a sieve for silkiness.

Served hot with crusty bread or a poached egg on top, this nettle soup is more than a meal — it’s a rite of spring, a connection to land and season. Each spoonful tastes of renewal, reminding us of the richness that comes from the wild, the overlooked, and the patiently gathered.

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Classic Foraged Early Springtime Stinging Nettle Soup
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegetarian
Cuisine: Foraged
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 persons
 
A classic recipe for an early springtime recipe for stinging nettle soup
Ingredients
  • * 4 cups vegetable stock
  • * ½ cup heavy cream
  • * 2 cups diced peeled russet potato, roughly 1 large potato
  • * 2 cups diced leeks
  • * 2 medium sized shallots diced small
  • * 1 small yellow onion diced
  • * 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • * 1 cup diced celery
  • * Kosher salt to taste
  • * White pepper to taste
  • * 8 oz stinging nettles or roughly half a paper grocery bag full This should yield about 1 heaping packed cup after blanching, shocking and mincing.
Instructions
  1. * Harvest fresh nettles in the spring about 4-5 inches tall.
  2. * Wash the nettles in a sink of cold water, then dry them.
  3. * Working in batches in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, steam the nettles until completely wilted. This should take about 2 minutes. Cool the nettles. Note that you can also add the nettles directly to the blender or soup raw for a stronger flavor.
  4. * Squeeze the nettles of excess water, chop finely and reserve. If you're more comfortable blanching nettles put 2-3 quarts of water in a large pot, along with 2 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil, adding the nettles and cooking for 30 seconds.
  5. * Remove the nettles leaves and stems to a tray, spread them out and cool naturally.
  6. * Remove a handful of nettles and finely chop them to add after the soup is pureed.
  7. Finishing and serving
  8. * Crème fraiche
  9. * chopped dill or mint
  10. * chopped hard boiled egg optional
  11. * extra virgin olive oil to garnish, optional