The British asparagus season traditionally runs from St George’s Day (April 23) to the Summer Solstice (June 21), a period of about eight weeks. Though short, this season is highly valued for its fresh, flavorful asparagus. Many home cooks still run into the same issue of overcooking the green, woody stems, particularly if they boil or steam them. But chef Gordon Ramsay’s method is much easier, and you don’t need to prepare any boiling water.
According to Ramsay, boiled asparagus stalks leave all their flavour in the cooking liquid, which also happens to turn green. The chef’s preferred method is to forgo water altogether in the cooking process and to “starve” the asparagus of it altogether to intensify the flavour.
If you’re yet to be persuaded to eat more of these vegetable spears, it may help to know that they are packed with nutrients, providing a good source of fibre, vitamin C and folate. Asparagus is also an excellent source of vitamin K, an essential nutrient for blood clotting and healthy bones.
Cooking asparagus like a professional chef is incredibly easy: simply blister the stalks in a hot cast-iron pan. According to Gordon, this leaves the “flavourful skins” intact, allowing you to get the most out of this seasonal vegetable.
It works for classic green asparagus and the white kind too, which Gordon Ramsay likes to combine for a colourful plate of sautéed veggies.
Sautéed asparagus recipe
Ingredients
- One bunch of thick green asparagus
- One bunch of white asparagus (or substitute with green asparagus)
- Fresh, coarsely ground black pepper to taste
- Lemon salt to taste
- One tablespoon of olive oil
- Two tablespoons of unsalted butter
- One cup of vegetable stock
How to cook asparagus
Removing the woody ends is still recommended even when sautéing asparagus. Trim the hard ends from both the white and green asparagus and set them aside for stock.
Starting from the trimmed end, slice about half an inch’s worth of thin slices off the remaining asparagus until both the white and green asparagus spears are about five inches long.
Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat, then season the sliced asparagus spears liberally with black pepper and lemon salt in a bowl.
Add olive oil into the hot pan so it smokes, then carefully add the asparagus spears to the pan in an even layer along with any remaining seasoning from the tray.
Sauté for 90 seconds, or until the asparagus’s greens brighten and the whites begin to char.
Turn the spears over, add the butter, and shake the pan so the butter melts on the bottom. Cook for another 90 seconds to brown the butter, and let the asparagus spears char for another 90 seconds.
Deglaze the pan with vegetable stock. This loosens and dissolves flavourful bits of food known as “fond” or “sucs” that have stuck to the bottom after cooking.
Turn off the heat and place a folded piece of aluminium foil on top of the asparagus to steam for two to five minutes.
Use the edge of your knife to check the texture of the spears. If you feel resistance, let the asparagus simmer on low heat for another two minutes.
If your knife slides through the asparagus fairly easily, remove it from the heat and plate up.