Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables and with the season in full swing now I have been doing a lot with it. Both last week and this week I came home with no less than 4 bunches of asparagus! While I take a break from posting about my adventures with asparagus last week and before I start cooking up the asparagus that I picked up this morning, I thought that I would take a moment to share some of my favorite asparagus recipes with you. Asparagus is so versatile and you can do so much with it that I am sort of glad that there is a fairly long period of time from when the asparagus shows up in spring until summers produce starts to flood in so that I have the time to fully enjoy it.
Asparagus with a Poached Egg in Hollandaise Sauce - Smothering asparagus in a creamy, buttery and lemony hollandaise sauce has to be my favorite way to enjoy asparagus even if it is a bit of a guilty pleasure. :)
Asparagus Carbonara - This is an asparagus dish that I make several times each year when asparagus is in season. Is is super quick, easy and immensely tasty!
Asparagus and Gruyere Tart - How can you go wrong with asparagus baked on a light and flaky pasty covered in melted cheese? Spread a thin layer of honey dijon mustard on the pastry before sprinkling on the cheese to add a nice zing.
Creamy Asparagus Soup with Morel Mushrooms and Ramps - This soup is an amazing way to enjoy early springs bounty of ramps and morel mushrooms along with the asparagus. One of the things that I like so much about this soup is that the creaminess is added by cottage cheese rather than heavy cream.
Asparagus with a Poached Egg in a Dill and Caper Avgolemono Sauce - If the asparagus in hollandaise sauce is a little too rich for you but you still want to enjoy some asparagus in a lemony sauce then an avgolemono sauce is the ticket for you! This Greek egg and lemon sauce is nice and thick and creamy and good and it goes really well with asparagus.
Asparagus, Morel and Ramp Quiche with Brown Rice Crust - This quiche is another great way to enjoy the asparagus, morel and ramp combination and the brown rice crust makes it a bit lighter than a quiche with a full butter pastry crust.
Asparagus Pesto on Penne - I always enjoy a good pesto and asparagus certainly makes for a great pesto. If you can get them, try replacing the garlic with ramps to change things up bit. I recently used this asparagus pesto in an asparagus and baby artichoke quinoa salad which was a surprisingly good way of using pesto.
Asparagus Souffle - If you are feeling a little more daring, this savoury asparagus souffle is nice and light and heavenly good!
Asparagus Crepes with Mushroom Dill Sauce - Asparagus, mushrooms and dill are such a good combination and wrapping them in soft, warm and fluffy crepes can only make them better.
Parmigiano Reggiano Crusted Oven Roasted Asparagus - This has to be one of the simplest ways to enjoy asparagus! Just sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and roast in the oven until the asparagus is tender and the cheese is nice and melted, bubbling and golden brown. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar for an extra hit of flavour or top it off with an egg to turn it into a light meal.
The first of the local strawberries were at the farmers market this morning so strawberry season is kicking off here in Ontario. Check out my strawberry roundup from last year for a few ideas.
