A SPARE PAIR OF ASPARAGUS RECIPES
Two recipes to usher Spring onto your table...
AU: Welp, we made it to Spring y’all! This may be one of my favorite times of year… besides the lovely weather (before it gets too “buggy”), most of my favorite veggies are Spring kweens! Please welcome spring garlic, favas, ramps, sugar snap peas, artichokes, rhubarb, and more to the stage…
EK: And we can’t forget the reigning queen of the Easter table, asparagus!!
AU: In honor of Spring Flings everywhere, we’re giving you two of our favorite recipes that highlight the star of Spring that is Asparagus. Mine is a quick stovetop side that will make you LOVE asparagus, even if you’re kind of ‘meh’ on it to begin with… And Elizabeth is going to GRILL hers, natch, so you can take this recipe all the way into Summer BBQs!!
Speaking of Asparagus, I have to tell you about an insanely good asparagus dish I had last weekend. In honor of my (younger) husband’s 40th birthday, I took him to the very new, and very chichi Manzke restaurant here in LA. One of the 13 courses was EuropeanWhite Asparagus with Roasted Almond Buerre Blanc and Kaluga Caviar. It was paired with an amazing Grüner Veltliner wine from the Wachau region of Austria.
According to EatingWell, “In Germany, white asparagus (weißer spargel) is celebrated (literally) with festivals from April to June. If you’ve never had white asparagus, it is exactly like green asparagus but without chlorophyll (the green in plants that helps generate oxygen in the photosynthesis process). It has to do with the deliberate harvesting process. White and green asparagus are grown the same way but there’s one huge difference in the process. White asparagus stalks are picked before they peek through the soil–they never see the sun. The green asparagus stalks are picked after they break through the soil and are exposed to the sun to develop chlorophyll, which is what makes them green. Germans like it because it’s sweeter and more tender than the green variety.”
WHAT’S 4 DINNER?: LIP-SMACKING GRILLED ASPARAGUS
EK: There is nothing like grilled asparagus. Back in the day when I was learning how to grill, it was one of the first things that I made and I loved it so much that I made it all the time. It was amazing to me how delicious it was grilled. And, I wasn’t alone. Every time, I made it for dinner parties and events, people would ask me for the recipe. When I told them how easy it was, they thought I was holding back and not telling the truth, but I was telling the truth!
AU: I love a grilled vegetable, and it reinforces the age old adage of simply getting the very best quality ingredient you can find, and not having to do a lot to it. That, to me, is Spring Cooking in a nutshell: all of the vegetables are so delicious, they just need a simple cook to taste incredible.
EK: Couldn’t agree more! This recipe is so easy that it really a non-recipe, a little olive oil and kosher salt plus the heat of the grill is all you need to make a vegetable that eats like a snack (#truth). And, I highly recommend eating it spear-by-spear with your fingers!
Here are some tips to making the best grilled asparagus:
Buy the big fat spears—save the delicate spears for sautés or blanch and eat them crispy-tender. Grilled asparagus is best with the bigger spears.
Asparagus is generally sold in bundles with rubber bands on the top and bottom. Most of the time, you can cut the bottom off just under the rubber band and you will cut the woody stems in one swoop! Alternatively, you can snap the bottoms off. They generally snap off at the point where the asparagus becomes tender.
Oil the food, not the grates! This will keep the asparagus from drying out and will promote caramelization—those beautiful grill marks that look good and taste good!
Place cleaned-and-trimmed asparagus in a resealable plastic bag. Add olive oil and close bag. Massage oil onto the asparagus spears to that all the surface area is coated with a think coating. You can do this up to a day in advance and refrigerate. Season with salt just before grilling.
Quick medium-high direct heat is the way to go when grilling asparagus but don’t over cook them. They should be bright green when you take them off the grill because they will continue to cook as they cool. Turn 1-2 times as they cook. The fatter they are, the longer they will take to cook, but they shouldn’t need more than 5 minutes total.
If you are feeling fancy, serve with dipping sauces. Romesco sauce, Hollandaise, Lemon-Truffle Vinaigrette, and Aioli are a few of my favorites.
Grilled asparagus is great hot, warm or cold. Save any leftovers for an omelet or a salad.
Grilled Asparagus with Fire-Roasted Romesco Sauce
Grilled Asparagus is my favorite, but don’t stop there. Charred whole scallions, zucchini, yellow squash, roasted cauliflower, potatoes and mushrooms are all better for a bit of Romesco sauce. It’s all good. Throw in some grilled bread and it goes from good to great!
Serves 4
Grilling Method: Direct/Medium Heat
Ingredients:
1 pound fresh asparagus (Look for large stalks with firm deep green or Olive oil
Kosher salt, about 1 teaspoon
Romesco Sauce ( recipe below)
Method:
Rinse asparagus and snap or cut off bottom. Place asparagus in a re-sealable plastic bag and drizzle just enough oil in the bag to coat all the spears. Seal bag and turn spears to coat evenly in the bag. Sprinkle with salt, reseal bag and turn again to evenly distribute the salt.
Place asparagus on the cooking grate over direct heat for 3-5 minutes or until marked and caramelized. Turn spears occasionally to grill each side. Asparagus should begin to brown in spots (this indicates that the natural sugars are caramelizing), but should not char.
Remove from grill and serve immediately with Romesco sauce.
Fire-Roasted Romesco Sauce
Makes about 4 cups
Grilling Method: Indirect/ Medium-high heat
Ingedients:
2 pounds of ripe plum tomatoes or 2 cans Fire-Roasted Tomatoes
1 roasted red pepper (see recipe below)
1 head garlic, roasted (see page recipe below)
3 tablespoons red-wine vinegar, more if needed
½ cup blanched or Marcona almonds
1 tablespoon freshly ground ancho chile
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish
1-2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt; more to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Wash and dry tomatoes. Cut out the core and drizzle the center of each tomato with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a disposable aluminum tray and place in the center of the cooking grate. Grill-roast for 30-45 minutes or until tomatoes are caramelized and soft. (Note, this is also a good time to roast the pepper and the garlic the pepper will take about 15 minutes and the garlic will take about 45 minutes.) Remove from grill and let cool in the pan, making sure to keep any of the juices that escaped.
Peel and seed peppers, and remove garlic from skin and set aside. Using a food processor or a blender, place tomatoes, their juice, roasted pepper and roasted garlic together and puree. Add vinegar and almonds and puree until smooth and uniformly chunky. Add ancho chile and smoked paprika and pulse to combine. Slowly add olive oil until you like the consistency of the sauce. Add salt and pepper and pulse to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper. Use immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. (I store the sauce in glass mason jars—this recipe fills 2 pint jars, you can keep one and give one away!)
Roasted Red Pepper:
Rinse and dry pepper. Grill over high direct heat, turning until skin blackens and blisters all over. Remove from grill and immediately put in a paper bag or sealed plastic container until cool. Note: the steam will loosen the skin from the flesh of the pepper. Skin and seed the pepper (the skin will slip off easily). Use as directed in recipe.
Roasted Garlic:
1 head garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
Pinch of kosher salt
Remove first layer of papery skin from garlic. Slice off top ½-inch from pointy top. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap in foil and cook on grill over medium-high indirect for 40 minutes or until cloves are golden-brown and soft. Alternatively, place in a 350 F oven. Remove from grill or oven and let cool. Follow recipe instructions.
WHAT’S 4 DINNER?: ABSURDLY ADDICTIVE ASPARAGUS
AU: Ok first things first: This is not my recipe. It’s a recipe I’ve been cooking for more than a decade (usually at Easter dinner/brunch). I found it on a little fledgling website named Food52. Turns out, it’s still one of their most popular recipes 12 years later! I love it, and find it’s a great side to everything from ham ‘n’ biscuits to roast lamb, chicken, or fish.
Funny story about Food52: When it first began, my pal Suze Yalof Schwartz (if you haven’t tried her Unplug Meditation app, you must!) sent me a note along the lines of “Hey there, my friends Amanda & Merrill are starting this community-based recipe site. I think you should try it on GMA!” I knew of the founders Amanda Hesser from Gourmet magazine and her editing of the NYT Cookbook, and Merrill Stubbs, a food writer whose work appeared in many publications. I read into this new venture, and loved what they had so far, so I tried to get them a segment on air. Alas, the powers that be thought they were “too Brooklyn” and “too niche,” so it never went anywhere. Cut to their now $300 Million valuation as a company and a reach of 24 million people. Guess they didn’t need a national spot on GMA anyway…
Back to asparagus: This dish is great because it takes mere minutes to cook, has plenty of texture, citrus, and… I guess for lack of a better phrase… “other stuff” going on besides just the asparagus. It’s a dish that is greater than the sum of its parts, and it really just hits that Spring Green Vegetable Spot.
All you do is crisp up some diced pancetta, sauté leeks until they’re soft, add some garlic, a bunch of asparagus cut into 2” pieces, some pine nuts (I opted for pistachios instead), and finish with the zest of an orange and a lemon, as well as some minced parsley. That’s it!
I’ve copy/pasted the recipe below, but you can also find it directly on the Food52 website here.
Absurdly Addictive Asparagus
Serves 4 as a side
Ingredients:
4 ounces Pancetta, diced
1-2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound Asparagus, woody ends trimmed, and cut into 2-inch pieces on the bias
2 small Leeks (1 ¼ cups), thinly sliced (white and light green parts only)
2 cloves garlic, minced/grated
Zest of one lemon
Zest of one small orange (about 1 teaspoon)
2 Tablespoons toasted pine nuts (or almonds, pistachios)
1 Tablespoon minced Italian Parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
In a large non-stick pan, sauté pancetta, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until crisp and lightly golden.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan. Add leeks and sauté until they become soft, then add asparagus and sauté until it is tender crisp, about 3-4 minutes.
Add garlic, lemon and orange zest, toasted pine nuts and parsley and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant. Season to taste with freshly ground pepper and salt and serve immediately.
That’s it for this week! As always, if you make our recipes, tag us on the ‘gram (@kitchensitch & @elizabethkarmel), and use the hashtag #whats4dinner. Happy cooking!!