It’s asparagus season! Or about to be, depending on where you live. Even in California we have food seasons 😊 I’m going to describe five different recipes using asparagus, in addition to the ultra-simple ways to prepare it as a vegetable side dish. A couple of the recipes are labor intensive (as in: cleaning and picking off lots of herbs), others not at all time consuming – something for everyone. Or something for every week – at the pixxer house, we will likely have each of these at least once during the season, and some several times.
In order to keep the diary from turning into War and Peace, I will present only two of the recipes in full in the diary, and the rest just as descriptions with links to the detailed recipes for anyone who wants to make them.
All the recipes are meatless except the risotto, and that can be made veggie by simply substituting vegetable stock for the chicken stock.
The non-trivial recipes described below are:
- Roasted asparagus with feta (Gourmet, April 2004) (almost trivial)
- Asparagus risotto with herbs (NYT)
- Asparagus pizza (my take on a Pizza Moda pizza)
- Asparagus Bread Pudding (from Potager, and pictured above)
- Truffle toasts with Asparagus (from the restaurant “ ‘ino” in NYC, now, alas, closed)
Also, in the comments, I’ll briefly describe and link to some of the other random asparagus items I turned up in my dinner journal.
But first…
Thick or thin?
… that old question: Which are better, the thick spears or the thin ones? A popular, and not unreasonable, idea is that young and tender thin asparagus matures over the weeks into old and tough, thick asparagus. However, this is not true, according to Cook’s Illustrated (and whom would we trust more? Especially with Penn State in support).
Two things determine whether asparagus stalks are thick or thin: the variety of asparagus – some are thicker and some are thinner and never the twain shall meet – and also the age of the underground “crown” that is shooting up the spears each year (for as long as 20 years!). Early on, the crown sends up thinner spears, and in later years they are somewhat thicker. When Cook’s tried steaming the two types of asparagus, they were surprised to find that the thicker ones were slightly more tender – apparently because in the thin stalks, the fiber is packed into a smaller space. But this was not a large effect. So they conclude that thick are great for grilling (easy to handle) and thin for steaming and stir-fry (cook quickly) and neither is “better” than the other overall. PSU, linked above, points out that people used to wait four years before selling asparagus from a new plant/crown – because it was considered too thin to sell before then – but chefs like the thin spears for their visual appeal and so they’ve become a Thing. So now pencil-thin spears appear at our markets in addition to the thicker ones.
I tend to use medium-to-thick ones, and that would be my personal preference for all of the recipes in this diary. YMMV.
How to trim asparagus stalks:
Next – that tough, often white part at the cut end – what to do about it: I learned decades ago from a friend that the way to remove exactly the right amount of the stalk - getting rid of the tough part you don’t want and keeping [almost] all of the tender part you do want – is easy and kind of fun to do. Grab the very end of the cut end of the asparagus in the fingers of one hand. Right next to those fingers, firmly but not tightly place the thumb and forefinger of your other hand (picture doesn’t quite show the starting point, sorry). Bend the stalk by pulling it firmly over your thumb, sliding the “second” hand toward the tip of the spear. When your thumb gets to the tender part, the stalk will break where it is bent over your thumb. Done!
Simple versions of asparagus: steam or boil and add stuff.
I prefer steaming most veggies, and asparagus is no exception. If you prefer boiling, just put more water into the pan, salt it, and boil for a few minutes instead of steaming. Follow the other instructions.
I actually use a frying pan or Dutch oven to steam asparagus because the stalks are, you know, long. The steamer will have to be fully opened to hold them.
[For cold asparagus, or if you are beginning a recipe that calls for chilling the spears after cooking, start by preparing a water bath that will hold all the stalks after they cook. This is to cool them quickly so they stop cooking right when you want them to. Ideally, you can put ice in the water; or you can just change the water a couple of times when the hot spears heat it up. If you are serving the asparagus warm right after cooking, ignore this step.]
Place your washed and trimmed spears on a steamer*. Heat enough water in the pan that it won’t boil away in 3 minutes, but little enough that it stays below the bed of the steamer during cooking. Bring the water to a boil. Place the steamer in the pan and cover the pan. After three minutes, stick a fork in a spear near the cut end. If the fork goes in easily, it’s done. You can give the spears a little more time or take them out if they’re tender. They should not be mushy! [If you need to cool the stalks as above, place in the water bath till cooled completely, then move them to a clean kitchen towel and dry them very gently.] Proceed with whatever treatment you are going to give them.
*There is such a thing as an asparagus steamer, in which the stalks stand vertically, with tougher parts down by the water and tender tips upward. We were given one and I confess I never use it.
Serving asparagus warm:
Buttered: I like to butter veggies by returning them to the (drained, dry) cooking pot in which I have melted some butter, and tossing them to cover completely. But you can also just put butter over the top, of course! Delicious this way!
Lemoned: Or you could add to the butter: a squeeze of lemon over the top. Excellent! Or just leave out the butter and squeeze lemon over them, for that matter.
Morelled :) For a special treat: Carefully clean morel mushrooms (say, ¼ lb for two people), cut into bite-sized pieces, and saute in butter (1-2 Tbsp) 5 minutes or so, then add in the steamed or boiled asparagus, perhaps a bit more butter, and toss together gently. We had this on our first visit to Chez Panisse – that’s how good it is.
I’m sure you all have many more suggestions for what to put over asparagus!
Serving asparagus cold:
Aioli’d: After chilling and drying the asparagus as above, I like to arrange the spears right on their serving plates and put them in the fridge (sometimes a challenge to fit them in...).
Right before serving, remove from the fridge and spoon mayonnaise or aioli (garlic mayonnaise) over them. This is GREAT if you are doing something complicated for the rest of dinner – the veggie is already done!
Simple, favorite aioli recipe, almost from Potager:
Mix 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 Tbsp olive oil, and ¼ tsp chopped fresh thyme [Potager (p. 71) has you puree the garlic, thyme, and oil in a food processor. Really, I should do this...] Add ¾ cup homemade or prepared mayonnaise and mix. I like to increase the olive oil in this mix, both for the flavor and so the aioli is thinner.
Some not-simple or almost-simple recipes:
Roasted Asparagus with Feta (semi-simple :)
This is a family favorite, partly because it’s so easy, partly because it was such a revelation how different the asparagus tastes when roasted, as opposed to steamed or boiled. The recipe is from Gourmet, May 2004. My version here has the amounts I use just for the two of us, and my random hints and comments.
My version for two people:
(This is 1/5 recipe, hence some odd measurements. I’ve found the amounts to work really well, so I do actually measure them. Gourmet would suggest 1/3 recipe for two people.)
Preheat the oven to 500F. Trim (see above) ½ lb asparagus, and wash and dry it. Place the spears on a baking sheet that will hold them in one layer.
At this point, I mound the spears up together to add the oil, salt, and pepper, so that these additions end up mostly on the asparagus, and not on the baking sheet. Drizzle evenly over the asparagus 1¼ tsp olive oil, a scant 1/8 tsp (actually 1/10 tsp) salt, and a pinch of freshly ground black pepper. Munge the asparagus spears with your very clean (not for long ;) hands till the spears are totally and evenly coated with oil, salt, and pepper.
Place the baking sheet in the preheated 500 degree oven, and roast for 8-14 minutes, shaking the baking sheet at least once halfway through, to turn the spears. The baking time depends on how thick your spears are, and how roasted you like them. I prefer them seriously done, with blackened spots, so I usually run to the longer time.
Place the asparagus on serving plates and sprinkle with ½ oz of feta or to taste. For this recipe, I really prefer French or Corsican feta, but have used Bulgarian, Greek, whatever I had on hand at the moment.
Gourmet presented this recipe as a side dish to a grilled, cumin-rubbed skirt steak with a cilantro sauce, which is also outstanding and a family favorite – but a quick look at my dinner journal showed me that I have served Roasted Asparagus with Feta alongside: an herb omelette; garlic mashed potatoes and a smoked salmon-and-caper salad, grilled chicken, lamb kebabs, and any number of random varieties of pasta.
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Spring Risotto with Asparagus and Herbs
This is a delightful reminder of the delightful season of spring. SandraLLAP, in her wonderful “Caprese Risotto” diary of the 10th, presented a good description of how to make a risotto, so I will not repeat that here, except to remind that you start by cooking the riso (arborio rice) in oil for a bit, as with a pilaf, then add stock, heated separately, bit by bit, allowing the riso to soak up each addition before adding more.
For the full, detailed recipe, please see the original in the New York Times.
Overview: ¼ cup (!) each (!) of tarragon, chives, and parsley are made into a thin paste in a food processor, along with olive oil, salt and pepper. Risotto is made using riso (arborio rice) pan-toasted in olive oil, then white wine, and chicken stock with garlic heated in, [substitute veggie stock for a meatless version]. Asparagus is separately boiled briefly, then cut and added to the cooked rice, along with butter (which we routinely forget, to no apparent disadvantage). Serve with parmesan grated over the top. Our dairy-free guest enjoyed this without the cheese just fine.
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Asparagus and Scallion Pizza
I had an asparagus pizza at Pizza Moda in Berkeley — highly recommended (very good pizza, excellent salads, friendly, unpretentious place, all wines $15 on Wednesdays and no corkage on Thursdays :) — and decided to try to make a version of it b/c I pretty routinely make pizzas at home. On my first try, I got a really good pizza out of it. I think the biggest secret is the scallions, which are an essential part of the enticing flavor.
Complete recipe:
Make pizza crust for a 13”-14” pizza. [Here is my extremely detailed crust recipe, which has hints and stuff in case you’re interested. If you have a favorite crust, it will do just fine, unless it is something seriously opinionated like Boboli. Any regular pizza crust will do.]
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. The timing here is for cooking pizza on a stone.
Trim 8 stalks of asparagus of moderate thickness, wash, and boil in salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and cover with cold tap water for a few minutes; drain again in a colander and let dry on a towel. Later, cut off the tips (to use on the top of the pizza) and cut the stems into 3 or 4 thin slices lengthwise [would a carrot peeler work for this?], and then crosswise into 2 or 3 pieces so as to be bite-sized.
Slice a half dozen scallions into thin rounds and cook them over medium heat in 2 Tbsp butter, along with one minced garlic clove (a small one) and 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (could use more – I lowballed it this time).
Grate about 5 oz part-skim mozzarella.
After precooking the crust 1 1/2 minutes, brush the scallion/butter/garlic/red pepper flake mix over the crust, then sprinkle on about 2/3 or more of the mozzarella, then the thin asparagus stem pieces, the rest of the cheese, and then the asparagus tips. Cook this another 5 minutes or so, and that’s it.
Mr pixxer asked about “the lemon” and was surprised there wasn’t any. He suggested that adding some would not be a bad idea, so consider that as a possible variant.
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Asparagus Bread Pudding (savory — yet another from Potager by Georgeanne Brennan — p. 36)
This requires lots of instructions, so I wrote up the complete recipe separately, here.
Overview: Soak dry bread in milk and squeeze out. Steam asparagus. Prepare mountains (1/2 cup, actually) of chopped fresh herbs (sage/thyme/marjoram, or chives/parsley/tarragon); grate cheeses (fontina, gruyere, pecorino romano). Stack bread, asparagus, herbs, cheese, repeat, then finally bread, cheese. Mix eggs, milk (left over from soaking the bread) S&P, and pour over. Garnish with peeled asparagus stalks if desired. Bake.
This is the most labor-intensive of the recipes I’m suggesting, entirely because of how long it takes to wash, dry, pick and chop all those herbs. But it is SO worth it! We usually make this just once a year, preferably when we can work together on the prep. It makes fine leftovers, so for the labor, we get a super treat for a couple of lunches after the first dinner serving.
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Truffled Egg Toast with Grilled Asparagus
This is a recipe from Simple Italian Sandwiches, which I detailed in a journal entry in 2015, so I’ll refer you there for the complete recipe. If you have a panini press, consider this book and also their other one, Simple Italian Snacks.
Overview: (The asparagus is an important but rather minor player in this one.) The truffled toast uses a fine-crumb bread like pain di mie, a loaf thick enough to cut a normal-width American-sized slice or two, each at least an inch thick. The bread is lightly toasted, the center pressed down, and two egg yolks broken into that well. The edges are covered in Italian fontina (for example, Valle d’Aosta) and the toast is broiled to melt the cheese and cook the yolks. Truffle oil is sprinkled generously around the eggs. [Keep this and other less-used oils in the fridge so they don’t go bad on you.] The asparagus is grilled in a panini press and scattered around the toast on the serving plate.
This is a dish we fell in love with at our favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant in New York City, ‘ino. I had a student who’d been a New Yorker and was the sort I figured would like the kind of restaurants I did – not fussy, no need for white tablecloth and supercilious waitpersons, or architectural presentation that’s impossible to eat… just REALLY GREAT FOOD. She sent us to ‘ino, which quickly became our favorite place to eat in Manhattan. ‘ino has unfortunately closed. On their website they say goodbye, and “Thank you for trying our truffle toasts.” We had truffle toasts there once, went somewhere else the next day, and then said hang it, let’s just eat at ‘ino.
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If you’d like to host a WFD (Saturday at 4:30pm Pacific Time) contact ninkasi23 by Kosmail or reply to the comment she will undoubtedly make below about the upcoming schedule.
So, What’s For Dinner at your place? And, how do you like your asparagus?