Clarence Court Asparagus & Pecorino Ravioloni with a Quail's Egg

This dish is one of our limited-edition recipes in celebration of the joy of eggs, Italy’s favourite scratch cooking staple. Packed with Vitamin B12, protein and omega-3, the humble egg is a nutritional powerhouse which has held a special place in the Italian pasta making tradition for centuries. To really pay tribute to the uovo in all its glory, we’ve teamed up with none other than Britain’s most distinguished egg producers, Clarence Court, on a limited-edition tasting menu. 

Asparagus has a long history on the Italian peninsula. Brought to the Mediterranean by the Egyptians, the asparagus growing beds in Northern Italy were famous during the Renaissance times. These graceful spears have long been considered a sign of elegance and, in times past were a delicacy only the most affluent in the Roman Republic could afford. So highly prized was this verdant vegetable that under Emperor Caesar Augustus, special boats – collectively known as the’ Asparagus Fleet’ – were maintained to transport asparagus from source to table, while elite military units were employed to carry fresh spears high into the Alps, where they could be frozen for later use.