Asparagus cooked in butter are one of spring’s best offerings. Make sure the spears are as fresh as possible and as local as you can get them.
Green shoots of spring
When everything turns green, properly bright green instead of the pale early spring hue around the trees and shrubs, when daffodils are gone and tulips almost finished, when peonies open their crimson globes and ducks visit my garden pond in search of a perfect nesting place – that’s my favourite time of year.
And my favourite of all the green things is fresh asparagus.
Do you know that tale about a chap who had a little asparagus plot in his garden? Every spring, on the day when he knew they would be rising from their soil beds, he’d set up camp at daybreak with a little camping stove and a pan right there on the plot. To cook them as freshly picked as possible!
I’m not that discerning but I do know my local fresh ones from the asparagus flown over from Peru in the middle of winter. I don’t buy the latter ones – planet’s sake notwithstanding, they are absolutely rubbish compared to the former.
And it’s just brilliant to have seasonal food only in season! I stuff myself silly full of green shoots from May till June and then go on asparagus fast until the following spring.
To snap or not to snap?
The common method of handling asparagus is to bend the stalk and let it snap where it wants to. The common belief is that the clever spear will know the magic spot between the woody end and juicy stem, and will break precisely there.
Common beliefs are there to be shattered, so after years of snapping I subsequently read that it’s all nonsense. You should apparently just trim the spears with a knife, eyeballing about an inch off the end.
Call me old fashioned, but I’m still snapping. First of all, if your asparagus are super-fresh, you probably don’t even need to discard the ends. But if they’re a little wilty, a tad bendy, it’s useful to know where the firm part gives way to fibrous. And anyway it’s satisfying to snap.
Don’t discard the ends! Snapped off or cut off, save the ends for a wonderfully flavoured stock. It may come in handy for asparagus risotto or soup.
How to cook asparagus
The only right answer is: simply. I’ve seen recipes for braised asparagus, asparagus in fancy sauce but fresh product is the key. You won’t spoil it by braising, but why bother, if it will be absolutely delightful steamed or boiled?
Plunge a bunch into salty, boiling water and drain after three minutes. There is a reason why Roman Caesar Augustus’ favourite command was: ‘Velocius quam asparagi conquantur!’ which means ‘faster than asparagus cook!’
Then you can obviously shower it with Parmesan, anoint with good butter or slather with homemade mayonnaise or hollandaise.
How to cook asparagus in butter
The recipe below is the second simplest method and delivers simple, but refined results.
Melt butter in a sauté or frying pan large enough to fit all the spears, preferably in a single layer. When the butter foams vigorously, add the asparagus and season with salt and pepper. They’ll need all of five minutes of cooking gently, tossing and shaking the pan to turn them over every now and then.
They will land on the plates ready-buttered, waiting only for a Parmesan cover.
More asparagus recipes
Beef and asparagus stir fry with beef so tender you won’t believe it’s a cheaper cut. There’s a secret to a successful beef stir fry and you’d never guess what it is.
Filo wrapped asparagus with Parmesan are a crunchy, golden, irresistible vegetarian snack or appetiser. Asparagus filo parcels rolled up like cigars - a must before the asparagus season ends.
Pasta with asparagus and lemon is a light and simple dish. Lemon asparagus pasta recipe, ready in 10 minutes or however long your pasta cooks for – this recipe uses calamarata pasta combined with asparagus in a lemon and butter sauce.
More spring vegetable recipes
Spring cabbage salad is easy and incredibly healthy, with herbs and a touch of garlic. A welcome change from lettuce or mixed greens, it's perfect for BBQ.
New potatoes sautéed with spinach. This recipe for sautéed new potatoes has them boiled first and then fried in plenty of butter with spinach and capers.
Creamy leeks sautéed with wild garlic. Wild garlic aka bear’s garlic or ramsons turns up in April in woody, wet, marshy lands and down in the overgrown part of my garden.