Prep a muslin bag or a piece of cheese cloth by simply adding the shallot, garlic bulb, bay leaves, thyme, pepper corns, fennel seeds and chilli and then tie it up.

Add beans and the bean liquid to a medium sized saucepan, pour over the stock, add parmesan rinds and the little bag of spices. Let it all simmer on a low heat until reduced and quite thick and creamy, this will take about 20-30 minutes. Take care not to boil the beans as they will go mushy. 

Grill the lemon.

Snap of the bottom of the asparagus and slice them lengthways, when only a few minutes of the beans remaining simply boil the asparagus in well salted water or stock for 2 minutes. Just before serving add the parmesan and lemon zest and season if needed.

Bash up the almonds in a pestle and mortar, I like to keep the pesto quite coarse. Add the basil and garlic and continue to bash until a thick paste, season with lemon juice, salt and pepper and stir in the olive oil. Keep to one side.

To serve, plate up the beans first and top with dollops of pesto, place the asparagus on top and lemon halves on the side.