Supper Club: Fearne Cotton’s fried asparagus and courgette chip salad

This is great as a quick lunch or a lovely side dish, or as a big serving platter for a group of guests. I started breadcrumb-coating every vegetable in sight once I had kids, in an attempt to get them to eat more veg. The Parmesan gives these veggie sticks loads of dreamy flavour and crunch, with the added bonus of getting a whole lot of green goodness into your diet.

Fearne Cotton’s Fried Asparagus & Courgette Chip Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 1 courgette, topped and tailed
  
• 60g breadcrumbs (gluten-free if you prefer)
• 35g grated Parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast, plus extra to serve
• 100g asparagus spears
• 50g white spelt flour or gluten-free flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 80g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100g rocket
• extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Halve the courgette lengthways and slice into 1cm thick strips.
2. Combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast in a bowl. Dip the asparagus and courgette strips into the flour, followed by the beaten egg and then coat with the breadcrumbs.
3. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the courgette and asparagus in batches, and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through and golden. Remove to a piece of kitchen paper.
4. Combine the tomatoes, rocket, courgette and asparagus.
5. Sprinkle over a little more Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Serve immediately.

Extracted from Cook Eat Love by Fearne Cotton (Orion). Photography by Tamin Jones and Liam Arthur.