Roasted asparagus

Asparagus, or asparagus, is a rather rare guest on the tables of Russian residents, but only because of the cost. You should know that this vegetable is a real storehouse of nutrients (vitamins B and C, nicotinic acid, fiber...). In order to preserve these beneficial substances, you need to comprehend the wisdom of preparing dishes from asparagus (which, by the way, is universal in terms of “culinary proximity”, since it can be combined with almost any product).

First, how to peel asparagus. It is worth saying that there are several varieties of it: white, green and purple. In fact, this is one species - the color depends only on the growing method: the green one grows in the garden, just like the purple one (only the latter is kept in the sun a little longer), and the white one grows underground. The last one is the most tender. They clean it only under the top, and green and purple ones - from the middle of the stem down. This is done with a special knife or potato peeler. From the already peeled stem at the root, cut off 1-2 cm - the roughest part - and trim the shoots so that they are approximately the same length.

How to cook asparagus correctly? The same principle applies here as with seafood: do not overcook. Otherwise it will lose color. Asparagus is usually boiled in a special sieve (in the form of a cylinder with a handle), immersing it in a pan of boiling salted water with lemon juice. Be sure to place the tops of the asparagus above the water, as they cook faster than the rest of the shoot and may become mushy. Cooking time depends on the color (white takes three times longer to cook) and the freshness of the vegetable. Readiness is checked with a toothpick.

There are many recipes for making asparagus salad. Here are just a few of the simplest ones. Dry the boiled shoots with a napkin, chop and fry in a frying pan in vegetable oil with finely chopped garlic. Serve with greens. A delicious salad can also be made from boiled asparagus with boiled squid, canned corn, onions marinated in vinegar for 20 minutes and dressing in the form of olive oil or mayonnaise. Or you can mix asparagus with boiled rice, grated cheese, mayonnaise and chopped herbs.

How to cook young asparagus? You don’t have to clean it at all before cooking. The skin is peeled only from the roughest places at the root. And the cooking time for fresh asparagus is very short. It takes 2-4 minutes to cook ("old" green shoots take 8-9 minutes to reach condition, and white ones in 10-15). The best sauce for asparagus is hollandaise, which is made from butter, egg yolks, lemon juice and wine vinegar.

How to pickle asparagus? To prepare it in a simple marinade, you must first put it in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then in ice water, and then dry it. For half a kilo of asparagus you need a glass of apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. salt and pepper, 1 ¼ tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tbsp. l. sugar and dill seeds, 2 cloves of garlic. Heat the vinegar, mix with salt, sugar, add chopped garlic, oil, pepper, dill seeds. Pour the marinade over the asparagus, cover and refrigerate for 6 hours.

An asparagus dish, even the simplest one, can make any dinner truly royal. And if you consider that asparagus has been considered an aphrodisiac for many centuries, then it is unknown whose food it will help pave the way to whose heart. . .

The cooking process and time are indicated for green, white asparagus. And also time to cook dried and frozen asparagus.

Asparagus is not a very popular product in our latitudes. Although this is not at all fair. Low-calorie, multivitamin, easy to process and prepare - a real “queen of vegetables”.
But since this vegetable is not known to everyone, let us consider in more detail the rules for handling it - how to properly peel and cook varieties of this delicacy.

How to peel green and white asparagus?

There are three types of asparagus, or asparagus as it is also called: green, white and purple. Its use is very diverse: in soups, as a side dish, a component of gourmet vegetable dishes, etc.

rinse the sprouts well
cut or simply break off 1-3 cm of the lower thick part - the spine
remove the thin film from the asparagus head with a knife
evaluate the condition of the skin on the pagon itself. If it is soft enough, this means that the vegetable is young and there is no need to remove it, because there are so many vitamins there. But if even in the green variety you come across a skin that is quite dense, it needs to be peeled. An ordinary kitchen knife or vegetable peeler will help you cope with this task.

White asparagus is coarser than green asparagus and its stalks need to be cleaned almost always. As in the previous described option, you need to cut off the rough roots, clean the head, and thoroughly peel the trunk itself. Remove the peel in the correct direction from the middle of the sprout to the bottom until the juicy core appears.

In this process, the main thing is not to be afraid to cut off a lot, because if you do not clean it thoroughly enough, then you will have to re-peel the already cooked sprouts from the rough skin.

How and for how long to cook frozen green and white asparagus?

Green or white asparagus before cooking don't defrost. Long asparagus spears can be broken or cut into small pieces. To prepare, follow these steps:

put the asparagus in the pan
pour cold water so that the water covers the shoots a couple of cm
salt the water
cover the pan with a lid to help the water boil faster
after boiling, cook for 5 minutes. and drain in a colander

In addition to the traditional cooking option in a saucepan, you can boil frozen asparagus using the microwave. To do this, place the frozen shoots in a microwave-safe bowl or pan, add water so that the liquid completely covers the stems and leave for 5 minutes. at a power of 800 W.

How and for how long to cook fresh green and white asparagus?

There are two main approaches to the process of cooking asparagus in a pan:

classical
folk

The classic approach involves boiling this vegetable upright. This is due to the fact that its bottom is coarser, due to which it requires a higher cooking temperature, and the delicate heads can even be cooked by steam when cooking the main shoots.

But for this cooking method you need a tall pan. Finished peeled asparagus sticks need to be tied together in approximately 8-10 pieces. Pour 1 liter of water into the pan, add 1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar and lemon juice.

Next, place the asparagus bunches in boiling water. Cooking time for green asparagus is no more than 5 minutes, white - 7 minutes. Very important don't overcook vegetable. Otherwise, it will become loose and it will be difficult to get the desired result in the finished dish.

When you remove the asparagus, it is advisable to immerse the sprouts in cold water with ice - this way the asparagus will not lose its color and will retain more vitamins and beneficial elements.
Folk way cooking is dictated by the possible lack of a special high pan.

This method is not so correct and perfect for preparing this vegetable, but with the right approach you can also get a good result. If your pan can accommodate the entire length of the stems, then dip the cleaned, prepared pagons into boiling salted water with added sugar and citric acid so that the water completely covers the product.

With the lid tightly closed, cook green and white asparagus for 5 and 7 minutes, respectively. If the diameter of your pan is not large, then you can cut the pagons into several parts.

In this case, both when cooking green and white asparagus, you can take out the top pieces first, which cook many times faster. Boil the lower part until done, which can be easily determined with a knife. Alternatively, you can boil asparagus in steamer.

To do this, place the vegetables in the steamer compartment and add salt. Fill the steamer with water and steam the asparagus at the same rate as in a saucepan.

In a similar way, you can use it to prepare multicooker in double boiler mode. To do this, pour a glass of water into the multicooker, and place asparagus shoots in the steaming compartment, as in the steamer. Green stems require the same amount of time to cook in the slow cooker.

How and for how long to cook green and dry white asparagus?

When preparing dried asparagus, you need to soak it first. To do this you will need:

200 g dry green or white asparagus
4 cups cold water

Cut the asparagus shoots into approximately 4 cm lengths, cover with cold water in a bowl and leave for 2 hours. Then take a saucepan, pour in about 4 glasses of water, add salt, sugar and, if desired, lemon juice.

Bring water to a boil and place asparagus in it. You need to cook green or white asparagus for 5 minutes. Place the prepared vegetables in a colander.

However, there is another way to prepare dried asparagus. To do this, pour 4 glasses of water into the water, add salt and sugar, and put dry asparagus shoots into boiling water. You need to cook vegetables in this method for 30 minutes.

How to cook young green asparagus?

Young asparagus, as we have already said, is practically does not require thorough cleaning. It is enough to rinse it thoroughly and just break off the base.

Cooking methods will again depend on whether you have a tall pan for cooking it in an upright position. If one is not available, then an ordinary saucepan will do just fine.

Young asparagus is a tasty and juicy product

But when cooking green young asparagus, it is important to remember that a very short period of time is needed - up to 3 minutes. Young shoots will not lose their rich green color if, after removing them from hot water, you plunge them into ice water.

How to cook mini asparagus?

Mini-asparagus already by its name indicates its small size compared to traditional shoots. Its stem is thinner and its length is much shorter. The main feature of this type of asparagus is the speed of its preparation - just one and a half minutes of cooking. Although, if you are going to fry it, then there is no need to pre-cook the mini asparagus.

As you understand, you will need very little time to cook asparagus. But with the finished product you can prepare a lot of delicious dishes.

Video: How and how long to cook asparagus?

Asparagus is a plant of the Asparagus family, which includes more than two hundred species: herbaceous, upright and creeping subshrubs.

The upper parts of the scaly shoots are used as a culinary delicacy - juicy, fleshy, rich in fiber, vitamins, beneficial macro- and microelements.

What are the benefits of using it?

vitamins A, C, E - have antioxidant properties;
B vitamins;
folic acid - a stimulator of the circulatory and immune systems;
asparagine - normalizes blood pressure and heart muscle function.

Relatively small quantities also contain vitamin K, potassium, magnesium, iron, selenium, phosphorus, zinc, iodine, choline, which are necessary for bone and connective tissue, the hematopoietic system, and normal functioning of the liver and kidneys.

Hundreds of different dishes are prepared from asparagus - soups and cream soups, puddings, casseroles, pies, quiche, gratin, stews, salads and even desserts. Most ways to cook asparagus involve only short-term heat treatment, which allows you to preserve its beneficial properties.

Which asparagus is suitable for cooking?

On store shelves and food market aisles you can find three types of asparagus: bright green, lilac-green with purple scales, and white. When purchasing, you need to pay attention not only to the color of the shoots, but also to their age and freshness.

White is more juicy, tender and sweet in taste. Green, and especially violet-green, have an even brighter taste, and the content of nutrients and vitamins is higher.

How to choose the right asparagus?

The younger the shoots, the more tender and pleasant they taste. The tops of the shoots should be elastic, the cut points should not dry out. The asparagus itself should squeak if the stems are gathered into a bunch.

When the shoots look limp, without a slight glossy shine, it is better not to take them.

What is its difference from green beans and fuju?

Do not confuse asparagus with the so-called green beans and dry Korean asparagus. The first, although it has some external similarity with green asparagus shoots, belongs to the legume family, and the second is made from soy milk.

However, dried soy “asparagus” (fuju) is very popular in our country, so below we will tell you not only how to cook asparagus shoots, but also give several recipes using fuju.

Preparing to cook

Before you cook asparagus, you need to wash and peel it. A special potato peeler is best suited for peeling shoots.

Green and purple shoots are cleaned downward, leaving buds at the top. White asparagus - in the same way, using a knife or potato peeler, peel the entire part of the stem, except the very tips.

Also, before cooking, all types of asparagus must be cut off 1-2 centimeters from the base of the stem (they can be used for cooking lean broth).

Boiled asparagus: simple and tasty

The easiest way to prepare young shoots at home is to boil them in salted water. In addition to salt, you can additionally add a spoonful of honey and a few slices of lemon to the water.

The correct way to boil asparagus is to place the shoots in boiling water and cook in an upright position. To do this, it is best to use a narrow, deep ladle or a special asparagus cooker.

Green stems should be cooked for no more than 8 minutes, and white stems for 10-15 minutes over moderate heat. Frozen asparagus can be cooked in the same way; it does not require pre-defrosting.

You can determine readiness by piercing the stems with a fork - they will be quite soft, but should not fall apart. After draining the water, place the shoots on plates and season with melted butter, adding pine nuts or grated Parmesan - it turns out very tasty!

For the sauce, you can use extra virgin olive oil mixed with balsamic vinegar.

Green asparagus in a frying pan

Ingredients

green asparagus,
salt and sugar (to taste),
olive oil and butter (one tablespoon each).

Cooking diagram

Heat a frying pan, pour in olive oil and add a piece of butter.
Season with salt and add sugar if desired.
After the oil in the frying pan has warmed up, carefully place the peeled, washed and towel-dried shoots into the frying pan in one layer.
Then fry covered, stirring regularly, for 3-5 minutes.

Check for doneness with a fork; the asparagus should be soft with a golden crispy crust.

Place the finished green asparagus on a paper towel - it will absorb excess fat. Serve as a side dish for meat and fish. This dish will be especially tasty in combination with salmon cooked in a slow cooker or oven.

Green asparagus salad with pine nuts and avocado in a slow cooker

Green asparagus can serve not only as an independent dish (including vegan and vegetarian) or a side dish for meat/fish, but also serve as an excellent basis for a healthy dietary salad.

You will learn one of the recipes for such a salad prepared using a slow cooker by watching the following video master class:

Cream of white asparagus soup

What will you need to prepare?

800 g white asparagus,
800 ml milk,
2 tbsp. flour (wheat, sifted),
50 g melted butter,
salt, pepper, herbs to taste,
a few slices of bread for croutons or croutons.

Step-by-step instruction

Place the washed and peeled shoots in boiling salted water. After 8-10 minutes, remove half of the shoots and set aside; they will serve as a filling. For the rest, cook over low heat for another 7-10 minutes until softened.
In a saucepan or soup pot over low heat, melt 25 grams of butter and fry the flour in it until golden brown.
Add 4 cups of milk to the pan with fried flour, mix well, bring to a boil.
Add well-cooked asparagus and 1-2 cups of vegetable broth remaining from cooking it to boiling milk.
Keep the soup on low heat for another 15-20 minutes, then remove from the stove and grind the contents of the pan using a blender.
Place the boiled shoots for filling into portioned plates and pour over the cream soup. Add a piece of butter and herbs to each serving. Serve the soup with croutons, toast or croutons.

You will learn another interesting and at the same time very simple recipe for preparing white asparagus by watching the following video:

How to cook dried asparagus?

Dry soy asparagus (fuju) is prepared very simply: the required amount is soaked in cold drinking water for a while (usually 4-6 hours). After soaking, fuju becomes ready to eat, and can be safely added to salads, soups and other dishes.

Korean soy asparagus with carrots

Ingredients for the dish

1 package of dry soy asparagus (fuju),
1 kg carrots,
1 large onion,
1 head of garlic,
100 ml sunflower oil,
1 tbsp. l soy sauce,
2 tbsp. 9% vinegar,
Salt, sugar, ground pepper, coriander to taste.

Cooking diagram

Immerse dried asparagus from the package in cold boiled water for 4-6 hours.
Peel and then chop the carrots into long, narrow slices or grate them using a grater designed for preparing Korean carrots.
Place the chopped carrots in a deep container, add vinegar, salt and sugar. Mash the carrots well with your hands until the juice appears. Leave for 15-20 minutes. If there is a lot of carrot juice, you can drain it.
Fuzhu, softened during the soaking process, rinse, squeeze, dry with a paper towel and cut into thin 2-3 centimeter strips.
Chop the onion (in rings) and garlic (finely). Pour vegetable oil into a saucepan and fry onions and garlic in it. Add coriander, fuju pieces, soy sauce.
Continue frying all the ingredients for another minute, then pour the hot oil with vegetables, fuju and seasoning into the container with the carrots.
Mix the Korean soy asparagus well, let cool, pour into a glass container and put in the refrigerator. As a rule, one night is enough for the dish to finally reach its standard.

You will learn another simple variation of this salad recipe using fuju from the following video:

Dried fuju asparagus with beans

What is needed for the dish?

100 g dried soybean fuju asparagus,
100 g beans,
1 juicy carrot,
bulb,
a couple of cloves of garlic,
sunflower oil,
ground pepper,
cilantro (or other greens).

How to cook?

Soak dry asparagus in water for 4-6 hours, cut into thin slices. Boil the beans.
Chop the onion and carrots and fry in vegetable oil until golden brown.
Add the boiled beans to the saucepan and after a few minutes add the asparagus, cover with a lid and simmer for 8-10 minutes.
Turn off the heat, add salt and pepper to the asparagus and vegetables, squeeze out the garlic and add chopped herbs.
Let stand with the lid closed for a few more minutes.
Serve the dish in portions, warm.

Green asparagus is a rather expensive product, and if we decide to buy it and cook fried asparagus, we want everything to be fresh.

How to distinguish fresh asparagus from stale ones? It's very simple. In the photo on the left there is good asparagus, and on the right it is already a little dried out, which is not good. Visually, everything is perfectly visible: the first one has a smooth stem, and the second one is slightly wrinkled, which indicates a lack of moisture, possibly improper storage conditions, and so on.

Unfortunately, no matter how you look at it, a few wrinkled stems are bound to get lost in our bunch. You just need to make sure there are a minimum of them.

Trim off a couple of centimeters from the ends of the asparagus. The ends are hard and will remain so even after heat treatment, so don’t feel sorry for them, feel free to cut them off.

According to the rules for cooking asparagus, a special pan is sold, narrow and long. Why exactly like this? The lower part of asparagus is harder and takes longer to cook. But I rarely buy asparagus, so I do without such a pan. You have to deviate from the rules and get out with a simple, very ordinary, but wide pan.

You need to boil the kettle in advance, put the asparagus in a pan and pour boiling water over it. Cook for 5, at most 7 minutes. You can't overcook it - it will fall apart.
If you don't have a wide pan, simply cut the asparagus into 2 pieces. In this case, first throw in the lower half, and after 2-3 minutes the upper half.
Be sure to salt the water. Asparagus loves salt!

Peel and chop the garlic. Melt butter in a frying pan, add a spoonful of vegetable oil, add garlic.

Drain the asparagus and immediately add it to the pan.
Fry for several minutes over medium-high heat, gently shaking the pan, thereby turning the asparagus stalks over.

Serve with lemon juice. It is possible that you will need to add additional salt on top. Pepper if desired. You can sprinkle with lemon zest for flavor. Another option for variety is grated hard, flavorful cheese.

It’s very simple, but it’s good for fried asparagus; you don’t need to overload it with flavors and long-term heat treatment.
Bon appetit!

Asparagus is one of the earliest fresh vegetables; its season traditionally opens in May. It is incredibly healthy and very tasty. Previously, asparagus was transported from Europe, but now from Asia and Latin America.

Beneficial features

Asparagus contains useful substances. For example, vitamins A, B, C, T, K, copper, manganese, dietary fiber, magnesium, carotene, coumarin, thiamine, folic acid. And this is not the whole list. Thanks to this composition, asparagus energizes us, lifts our spirits, and relieves the symptoms of vitamin deficiency.

It has a beneficial effect on the heart and blood vessels, regulates blood clotting and prevents the formation of blood clots. And carotene in asparagus prevents cancer.

Asparagus is especially loved by those who are watching their weight, since it is a low-calorie product despite its overall health benefits.

Back in the Middle Ages, it was believed that asparagus was a love product, an aphrodisiac. It activates sexual energy, has a stimulating effect, has a beneficial effect on men's health, in general, acts as a natural analogue of Viagra. But asparagus is not only beneficial for men. In India she is called "shatavari", which means "having a hundred husbands." Asparagus normalizes hormonal metabolism, helps with infertility and serves as a rejuvenating agent for women.

White and green

There are two types of asparagus: white and green. The difference is that the white one grows underground, it does not see sunlight, so it has this color, its shoots are more tender than the shoots of green asparagus, which reaches towards the sun. But green asparagus is richer in vitamins. Although in fairness it should be noted that both types are very useful. True, white asparagus is not very common in our country. Green is much more common.

Culinary tricks

What to combine with

Asparagus is a versatile vegetable. It does not have too strong a taste, so it can serve as an excellent side dish for meat, an addition to hot dishes, and scrambled eggs. They make excellent salads and even pies from it. Very often, asparagus is served simply boiled with a delicious creamy sauce. Most often - Dutch.

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Hollandaise sauce

100 g butter

juice of half a lemon

salt, freshly ground white pepper

Grind the yolks, butter and lemon juice, add salt and pepper.

Place in a water bath, whisk constantly and cook over low heat until thickened.

Asparagus with caviar and cream sauce

Photo: Shutterstock.com 5 yolks

100 g green asparagus

2 tbsp. l. lemon juice

2 tbsp. l. ghee

2 tbsp. l. soy sauce

1 tbsp. l. red caviar

Step 1: Peel the bottom of the asparagus stalk.

Step 2. Prepare asparagus in any way: steam, boil or fry.

Step 3. Make the sauce: beat the yolks, lemon juice, melted butter and soy sauce in a blender. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, add ground white pepper, grated fresh ginger root and cook in a water bath, stirring with a whisk, until slightly thickened. This will only take a couple of minutes.

Step 4. Serve the finished asparagus with red caviar and light sauce.

Poached eggs with asparagus and white sauce

3 stalks of asparagus

2 pieces of bacon

Hollandaise sauce

1 poached egg

Oil for frying

Step 1: Peel and chop the asparagus.

Step 2. Blanch the asparagus in salted boiling water.

Step 3. Cool in cold water, then fry.