SPRING SALAD WITH WATERCRESS DRESSING

Spring salad with watercress dressing image

Savour all the flavours of an Italian spring with this salad with a British twist

Provided by Maxine Clark

Categories Buffet, Dinner, Lunch, Side dish, Snack, Starter, Supper

Time 35m

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

550g new potato , scrubbed
800g young broad beans in the pod (to give about 200g/8oz shelled beans)
200g fresh young asparagus
400g young peas in the pod (to give about 100g/4oz shelled peas)
90g pack prosciutto , sliced into ribbons
125g bag mixed salad leaves
100g pecorino cheese, shaved
50g fresh watercress , roughly chopped
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp cider vinegar
pinch sugar

Steps:

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes until tender. Drain and halve when cool enough to handle; set aside. Blanch the shelled broad beans and the asparagus in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes. Drain in a sieve and cool under running cold water. Drain again, fish out the asparagus, then peel off the hard outer skins from the beans - make a nick in the tops and pop the beans out. Blanch the shelled peas in a separate pan for 1 minute. Toss the asparagus, beans, peas, potatoes and prosciutto together.
For the dressing, put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blitz until really smooth and bright green. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, toss the salad leaves with a spoonful or two of dressing and arrange on plates. Pile the vegetable mixture on top, season, then drizzle over the remaining dressing and scatter with the pecorino.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 493 calories, Fat 31 grams fat, SaturatedFat 9 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 31 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 0.5 grams sugar, Fiber 7 grams fiber, Protein 25 grams protein, Sodium 1.57 milligram of sodium