FOR us chefs, asparagus is very much a spring vegetable. Sure, you see it on the shelves of supermarkets at other times of the year but English Asparagus is normally only available for a short window during the month of May. Picking it after that, farmers say, affects the following years crop.
At present asparagus is not commercially grown in Northern Ireland but I know quite a few people who are superb gardeners and grow it at home or in their allotment.
It's is a very healthy vegetable and is quick to cook. For me the simplest way to eat it is grilled and served with butter (you have to really use the best butter and we have Abernethey locally, available in specialist food stores Sawyer's and Arcadia, both in Belfast) and served with a wedge of lemon to juice over it. Two other great recipes are Dover Sole with Asparagus and mint and a risotto.
DOVER SOLE WITH MINT AND ASPARAGUS
(Serves two)
75g butter
1 garlic clove, fine chopped
150g asparagus, cleaned
2 dover sole, 300g cleaned with top skin and fins removed, bottom skin on but descaled
1 small bunch mint, destalked and chopped
salt and pepper
½ lemon to serve
Start by cooking your asparagus in a pot of boiling water for about three minutes for thin stems of asparagus and five for the thicker stems. Once tender refresh under cold water.
Heat the grill on its highest setting (I always ensure I have my extractor fan on); at the same time, melt the butter in a pan and stir in the garlic. Once melted, brush the butter on a sheet of greaseproof paper, lay the dover sole on top and brush the fish on top with the butter and place under the grill for four to five minutes, remove baste with more of the butter and cook for a further 4 minutes or until cooked to the bone.
The fish will cook the whole way through under the heat of the grill and does not need to be turned but check and turn if necessary. Place on a plate and heat the remaining butter for a minute, throw in your asparagus and heat through and then add in the mint and serve on top of the Dover sole.
RISOTTO WITH ASPARAGUS
2 litres of vegetable stock
400g Asparagus, shave into long strips
2 tblesp olive oil
1 onion, fine dice
350g Arborio rice
1 glass white wine
80g Parmesan, grated
50g butter
Salt and pepper
Put the stock in a pot and bring it to the boil. For this dish I have shaved the asparagus into long strings; add this to the stock, cook for one minute, remove and refresh under running cold water.
Heat the olive oil in a large-bottomed pan and cook off the onion until soft. Add in the rice and cook out for two minutes, stirring continuously. Addd in the wine and stir until cooked out. Start adding in the stock, a ladle at a time; keep adding stock until it is all absorbed and cooked into the rice – this should take up to 20 minutes.
Taste the rice to ensure that it is tender; add in the Parmesan, then the butter. When ready to serve, garnish with olive oil, scatter over the asparagus and serve.
