Really Good Asparagus - by Clare de Boer
If you like the crisp edges of lasagne, the soaked croutons, the whipped cream that gets icy around the chocolate scoop - you’re in the right place.
Hi everyone.
Thank god it’s spring. Officially, irrevocably spring! This week I’m sharing my favorite way to cook asparagus right now—I’ll call it steam-roasting. The method is quick, ovenless, and manages to preserve the succulence of the stems while crisping the tips.
Asparagus isn’t a vegetable that recipes well. It’s delicate and temperamental, without any characteristics that improve with layering or introduction to other ingredients. So it’s best to focus, instead, on cooking it well and loving it as it comes.
Surveying my lunches and dinners over the last few weeks, this steam-roasted asparagus is everywhere. I’ve eaten panfuls of it standing by the stove, I’ve had it with fish, I’ve cracked and fried eggs in the pan with it, I’ve dipped its tips in hot sauce, I’ve packed it into lunchboxes (and they ate it!!), and chopped it and tossed it through farro with lots of mint and lemon zest, for a lovely salad, too.
If you like the flavor of roasted asparagus, but dislike heating up the oven for longer than the veg itself takes to roast, and really dislike the oven’s proclivity to dry, hollow, or wilt the spears, you’ll love this.
The method has two parts that both happen in the same pan: steaming, and then roasting. In the first stage we lay dripping wet asparagus flat in a very hot pan with some salt and then put the lid on. It only takes a few minutes to steam the asparagus before we remove the lid to roast, driving off any water that hasn’t evaporated already, and crisping the tips.
The method is easy to get the hang of, but here are a few notes to help you get comfortable with it:
Cook the asparagus in a crowded, single layer, about a bunch in a 12-inch pan. More than this and the asparagus may overcook before it blisters. Cook in batches if you’re feeding many—or forget it, and just oven-roast at the hottest temp.
The amount of water needed for steaming depends on the thickness of your spears and how full your pan is. Add an espresso’s-worth of water if the asparagus isn’t tender by the time the water has evaporated; if there’s too much water in there and your spears are cooked, cock the lid over the spears to hold them in the pan while you pour excess water in the sink.
Anything can be a lid—another pan, a lid from another pot, a baking tray. You just need something to cover the asparagus so steam can collect.
I will use this same method to cook garlic scapes when they arrive, but their toughness means that they need a good ½ cup of water and 8-10 minutes of steaming before lidless browning begins.
1 bunch asparagus, about 12 spears
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pinch of salt
Snap off the ends of the asparagus where they become woody. Discard or save bottoms in the freezer for stock. Soak the asparagus in water for 5-10 minutes to draw out sand lodged in the tips. Swoosh them around a few times to unsettle grit.
Heat a wide pan (12” diameter fits an asparagus spear nicely) with 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil waves, tip it around the pan. Lift the asparagus out of its water bath, and immediately drop it—still dripping—into the hot pan. Throw in a pinch of salt, cover the pan quickly with a lid and let it steam over high heat. Hold the lid of the pan with one hand and the handle with the other. Tug the pan back and forth to circulate the asparagus and encourage condensation to drip onto the bottom of the pan. After 2-3 minutes, depending how thick your spears are, remove the lid, pick a fat spear (with tongs or a fork), and bite its bottom. If it's just cooked, go to the next step; if it needs a little longer, add a splash more water, return the lid, and continue to steam until just tender.
When the asparagus is tender but still snappy, remove the lid and continue to cook over high heat to evaporate any remaining water and then blister the tips.
Shake the pan to turn the asparagus, but don’t aim for an even finish: Color on one side and none on the other makes it interesting. When the asparagus is crisped in places, turn off the heat and eat!
EAT WITH a squeeze of lemon, its zest, fish, chicken, eggs, mozzarella balls, lentils, lots of herbs, gratings of parm, OR...some farro, mint, pistachios, and ricotta salata.
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