3 recipes for Asparagus Season

Name: Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Appetizer
Ingredients: 1 pound asparagus, preferably medium or thick spears; 3 to 3 1/2 ounces sliced prosciutto; 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil; Ground black pepper

While it’s too early to get asparagus in your garden in zone 4 – it is popping up at the grocery store, making its way here from California. I love asparagus and artichokes and feel like they are the precursors of Spring cooking.

Grocery store asparagus can be thin and delicate with frilled ends or thick fat spears with tightly held tops. Either thickness is suitable for eating as long as they are fresh. If you are going to store asparagus in your refrigerator after coming home from the market, store them spear side up in a glass with two inches in the bottom, and a plastic bag draped loosely over them to preserve them for up to 5-7 days. If the water gets cloudy after a few days, just rinse and repeat.

Preparing Asparagus spears for cooking is very easy. Snap the tough ends off or if you prefer a more even presentation, cut two inches off the ends of the stalks. You can roast your asparagus in the oven, air-fried, grill it, or cut it into pieces and saute. I like to use the tough ends in my stock bag, or if I have enough of them, I will boil them with chicken stock and whiz them up in my Vitamix with some chives and add a splash of cream for fresh Asparagus soup. Garnish with chive oil and or drizzle with plain yogurt thinned with lemon juice. Finish with fresh cracked black pepper and kosher salt.

Here are a few of my favorite asparagus recipes, including an asparagus pesto tart, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and asparagus dressed with a sauce Gribiche

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Yield: 8 Servings

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus is a perfect way to welcome Spring

and is a welcome appetizer at any party

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus, preferably medium or thick spears
3 to 3 1/2 ounces sliced prosciutto
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Ground black pepper

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400°F:

Prepare the asparagus by snapping or cutting the dried ends off

Wrap each spear of the asparagus with prosciutto and lay side by side on a sheet pan

Drizzle the pile of asparagus with 2 tablespoons of olive oil trying to hit each spear

Sprinkle with Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

Bake them for 8 to 10 minutes until the spears look crispy

Asparagus Pesto Puff Pastry Tart

Yield: 9 pieces

Asparagus season always means a tasty, easy pesto puff pastry tart

Ingredients

1 sheet of frozen puff pastry rolled to a 9 x 10 rectangle
1/4 cup basil pesto
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup Mozzarella cheese
1/2 pound asparagus with ends trimmed to make about 8” long spears
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt
Black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll out your puff pastry to 9” x 10”. rectangle
Prick all over with a fork
Spread 1/4 cup pesto over the surface of the pastry, leaving about 1” around all sides.
Scatter the Mozerella and Parmesean over the pesto base.
Top with the asparagus laying them side by side.
Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Place tart in the oven and bake until edges are golden brown and asparagus spears are roasty, about 17-20 minutes.
Sprinkle lemon zest and a additional black pepper.
Serve warm or at room temperature

Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche

Ingredients

1 bundle asparagus

Gribiche

3 hard-boiled eggs
3/4 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp Dijon country mustard
1 tsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp small capers
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
¼ cup olive oil

Instructions

Asparagus

Snap tough ends off the asparagus.
Heat a pot of boiling water.
Put asparagus in boiling water for two-four minutes depending on the thickness.
Put cooked asparagus in a bath of ice water to stop the cooking and retain the bright green color and crispness of the asparagus.

Gribiche

Rough chop 2 eggs. Set aside.
Mash 1 yolk thoroughly with a fork and whisk in the garlic, lemon juice, mustard, mayonnaise, capers, parsley, and thyme leaves.
Slowly whisk in the olive oil and whisk with a fork to emulsify.
Arrange the poached asparagus on a serving dish, top with the sauce.
Top with the reserved rough chopped eggs.