Recipes
Asparagus with butter
June 16, 2011
Ingredients
- one kg of asparagus
- 100 gr of butter
- salt
- pepper
- 100 gr of grated parmesan cheese
What to prepare
- a pasta strainer
- a small skillet
- a knife
- a tall casserole with a lid
- a dish that can go in the oven
- string
Procedure
Cut off the hard stringy part of the asparagus and peel the remaining part leaving the tip intact. Make bundles and tie together and leave standing in salted boiling water (the water must cover about one third) in a covered tall pot.
The water and the water vapor will cook them. Let boil about 20 minutes.
Take them out of the pot and leave them in a strainer so they will drain all the excess water.
Dip them with the strainer in cold water.
Drain again and place on a dish that can be put in the oven, pouring over them 100 gr of melted butter with salt and pepper.
Place immediately in a hot oven for a few minutes.
Generously sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese and serve right away.
Curiosities
When it’s the season for asparagus they pervade the market with beautiful green or white bunches or with other colors according to the different qualities, some so big and some just as big as a finger yet always so inviting that you can remember the taste of that unique flavor mixed with the melted butter or with the most simple oil and lemon fondue.
Don’t make the size mislead you: the size has nothing to do with delicacy even if it is consistent, the flavors at times are not so strong, on the contrary, at times they are inexistent or imperceptible.
This never happens with Rossi asparagus, where there are no discussions because these asparagus never let you down. Another blessed land is the Roero region right at the border of the Langa region; there you can still find a tradition which is as old as man, where you can still find professional, bighearted and tireless men.
From that land, from those men we can also purchase the best wine to accompany our asparagus: the same land, the same sun, the same hard labor just for a second of pleasure, a leisurely and gentle pleasure, which should be slowly experienced.
For all those who love good cuisine cooking asparagus can be just a small problem. I suggest you cut them all at the same height, trimming all the bases even, standing them straight one against another just as soldiers saluting in a line. Next, place them in a big pot of water just covering half of their length.
By boiling, the water will cause the vapors to cook the tips so they will preserve their consistency and the intensity of flavor and color.
