Food for friends is different from food for family, and different again from food for “company”. It’s food to share, eaten with people you are happy to share with. It is a return to the almost biblical ideal of “breaking bread” together, as you help yourself to huge platters of food in the middle of the table, pass plates from hand to hand, and pour wine for each other.

This is not the time for gastronomic high-flying, nor for fiddly individual dishes; instead it is at its best when you put out a stack of plates and a couple of interesting bottles of wine to talk about and compare, and let the meal develop in an easy, generous flow of good food.

Start with the new season’s asparagus, and lots of it, under a drizzle of little prawns in garlicky butter. Then bring out a big platter of thickly sliced beef, crusty and rosemary-scented on the outside and rare on the inside, scattered with warm and squishy roasted cherry tomatoes and rocket leaves; and a bowl of crash-hot (oven-crisped) Jersey Royals. To finish, you need something generous and feel-good; a tureen of rich chocolate mousse served on the table with a stack of bowls and a very large spoon for helping yourself. You’ll soon know who your real friends are — the ones who leave some for you.

Ingredients

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 10 min
Serves 4

Celebrate the new season’s British asparagus by treating yourself to a huge platter of it, topped with buttery, garlicky prawns.

1kg asparagus spears
2tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
500g cooked, peeled prawns
Sea salt and pepper
1tbsp finely grated Lemon zest

METHOD

Trim the asparagus by snapping each spear and discarding the ends; there is no need to peel the stems. Cook in simmering salted water, lying flat, for 5 min or until just tender but still bright. Drain and arrange on a large warm platter. Melt half the butter in a frying pan, add the garlic and gently cook for 1 min, then add the prawns and sauté for 2 min until hot. Add remaining butter and tip the lot over the asparagus. Scatter with sea salt, pepper and lemon zest and serve.

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