Asparagus, spring delight on the table
Asparagus is a splendid vegetable, there are about ten varieties in Italy, from delicious white asparagus, to classic greens, to wild asparagus; easy to prepare, they usually make everyone, young and old, happy, even the most difficult palates to conquer.
Preparing them properly and being ready for use in the aspargera is already an important "technical" first step to bring to the table a delicate spring vegetable with a unique taste.
The winning culinary tradition wants them paired with fried eggs, the Milanese "cereghin" or bull's eye, or scrambled venetian, and in this case the asparagus make up a perfect second vegetarian dish.
Let's see them here in three other versions: a lukewarm velvety, a special carbonara with the precious white asparagus and finally some phyllo pastries with asparagus and ricotta, great for a picnic outdoors.
Warm velvety asparagus and zucchini
Ingredients for 3/4 people
> 1 bunch of classic green asparagus;
> 1 spring onion;
> 2 potatoes;
> 2 zucchini;
> vegetable stock, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil;
> flax seeds to taste;
> robiolina to taste.
Preparation
In a large pot, fry the chopped onion in a little oil, add the diced potatoes, the cleaned asparagus, even the hardest and most stringy parts, keeping aside the tips, the diced courgettes; add a pinch of salt, about half a liter of water and cook for about twenty minutes.
Once the vegetables are softened, blend them with the immersion blender, add veg nut as needed and finish cooking for another 10 minutes, adding asparagus tips and more water if necessary.
Finish off with the warm velvety soup, with raw oil, pepper and, to taste, a teaspoon of robioline in the middle and flax seeds to decorate.
Carbonara with white asparagus
Ingredients for 4 people
> 1 bunch of white asparagus (Veneto, Cilavegna or Sicilian);
> 1 shallot;
> chives;
> 1 egg;
> grated parmesan and pecorino cheese;
> pepper, salt, extra virgin olive oil, little white wine;
> pasta like queinette or fusilli with long holes in bronze drawn.
Preparation
Clean the asparagus, cut it into round slices, keeping aside the whole tips ; in a non-stick pan put a couple of tablespoons of oil, the shallot and the asparagus slices, leaving to flavor for a few minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Blend everything with a little white wine, add a glass of water, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
Separately, in a cold bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt, pepper, a tablespoon of grated Parmesan and a couple of tablespoons of grated pecorino.
Then cook the pasta for the indicated time ; the last five to seven minutes add the asparagus tips to the boiling dough; drain everything, and while it is still hot put the pasta in the bowl with the egg, stir quickly and add the sauce in a hot pan. Serve hot with more cheese, chives and raw oil if you like.
Phyllo pasta triangles with wild asparagus
Ingredients
> 1 bunch of wild asparagus;
> 1 pack of filo pastry (about ten saccottini will be made);
> 1 pack of fresh cow ricotta;
> salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil;
> 1 egg;
> 1 tablespoon of powdered linseed meal;
> 1 tablespoon of grated cheese.
Preparation
Clean and coarsely chop the asparagus; boil them or better still steam them for about 10 minutes. Then mix them with the ricotta, the whole egg, add salt and pepper, flaxseed flour and grated cheese. Let it rest for half an hour in the fridge.
Cut the filo pastry into squares, each of which will be formed by four overlapping and brushed sheets of oil. In the center put a spoonful of the filling and simply close them in two, to form triangles;
Cook in a hot oven at 180 ° C for about 10/15 minutes, checking until they become golden, and possibly lower the temperature. Serve hot or warm.
