5 Great Asparagus Recipes You Can Always Rely On

Let’s focus fully on asparagus. This lovely vegetable is too good not to cook with all the time, to get you started I rounded up 5 great asparagus recipes you always can rely on. Let’s get cooking!

Let’s check out some great asparagus recipes. Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables. It’s one of those that is perfect as a dish on its own or to use as a side or part of a bigger course. Personally, I prefer the green asparagus, I’m not sure I can explain why in a good way. Maybe it’s just the fact that I use more green and have simply made more recipes with it.

But if white asparagus is your favorite don’t worry, there are both green and white used in this collection. Also feel free to add to or tweak the recipes how you see fit. That’s the great thing about cooking. It’s constantly changing and anyone can add something great to an already good recipe.

Since this is a roundup I’m only writing the essential parts of each recipe here, in the title for each recipe is a link if you want to find the individual post for each recipe. Good luck!

Asparagus with Chili Bearnaise

serves 4 as an appetizer

16 fresh green stalks of asparagus
1/2 Tsp chili flakes (or fresh chili)
1.8 cups / 2 dl clarified butter
2 eggs
1.5 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp fresh tarragon, chopped
1/2 Tsp parsley, chopped
1/2 Tsp chives, sliced
salt, pepper
olive oil

For Bearnaise sauce you usually make a reduction using red wine vinegar, shallots, tarragon, pepper and let it all simmer for a while and then discarding the herbs and using the flavored vinegar with the egg yolks to start the sauce. This is a great way but it works fine to make it straight with the vinegar and add the spices and herbs as you go.

Also, there is some debate on which herbs should be added, I’m staying out of this debate, just make sure you use tarragon which is essential for the flavor. This time I also added chives and parsley since those are my favorites.

How To Make Chili Bearnaise Sauce

Heat the clarified butter and set aside. Whisk together egg yolks with the vinegar and a little bit of salt and pepper. Carefully heat it during whisking on low heat until it starts to thicken. In most recipes, this calls for a water bath but if you are careful it’s not a problem to do it on the stove.

Once you have the egg and vinegar thick and warm remove it from the stove and start to add the warm butter a little at the time. If it gets too thick or starts to separate you can add a few drops of cold water to cool it down. Add all the butter and then season the sauce with all the chopped herbs and chili. Add more vinegar, salt and pepper if necessary. Roast the asparagus in olive oil in a pan and season with salt and pepper.

Crayfish lasagna with asparagus and garlic

serves 4 persons

300g / 10 oz cooked crayfish tails
12 stalks of asparagus
3 cloves garlic
1,5 dl / 0.6 cups cream
1,5 dl / 0.6 cups milk
salt, pepper
olive oil
2 handfuls spinach and or other leaf vegetables
4 tbsp Parmesan cheese
12 sheets of dried lasagne pasta

Peel and slice garlic and saute in olive oil for a few minutes, add milk and cream and season with salt and pepper. Blend into a creamy garlic sauce, set aside. Rinse the spinach and drain the crayfish tails (if they were sold in liquid). Slice the asparagus and parboil in salted water. Boil the pasta until almost done (it will get done once everything is plated).

Add one layer of pasta and then add the asparagus, crayfish and then repeat for as many layers as you like. Whisk the sauce and pour on top and add a little bit of salt, pepper and grated Parmesan, serve.

Raw asparagus salad with lemon & Parmesan

Serves 4 as an appetizer or side dish

6 + 6 Asparagus, green and white
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 Lemon
1 handful of grated Parmesan
Salt, pepper

Thinly slice the asparagus lengthwise with a vegetable peeler, toss in olive oil and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. Grate Parmesan on top. Serve.

White Asparagus, Seared Cod and Hollandaise Sauce

Serves 4

Each component comes with its own recipe, let’s start with the cod.

Seared Cod

600g Cod Loin
Salt, pepper
Butter
Oil

In Sweden, you can get fresh cod loin that is cut out. It’s quite pricey but the quality is usually great. Just cut the fish up into four pieces. Place them skin side down on a tray and sprinkle with salt. Set in the fridge for an hour. Meanwhile, you can prepare the other ingredients.

This dry salting makes the cod tastier and firms the meat a little bit. Not quite the way as if you would put it in a liquid brine but sort of halfway there.

Then take out the fish and heat a pan with a little bit of oil in. Add the fish skin side down and sear until you have a nice color on the skin. Add about 2 tbsp of butter and turn down the heat a little bit. Cook like this for a few more minutes. Take out the fish from the pan and place in an oven-proof tray. Finish the cooking in the oven at 100°C / 212°F. This should take about 10-20 minutes depending on how thick the fish is.

You can check the fish with a thin knife, it should barely slide through when done. If you have a thermometer that is even better. The opinion on when cod is done varies. I prefer it at around 52-56°C / 125-132°F in the center.

White Asparagus

500g white asparagus
2 lemons
0.5 cups / 1.2 dl dry white wine
1 cup / 2.4 dl water
3.5 oz / 100g butter
Salt

Start with peeling the asparagus. You don’t have to peel the tips, just the bottom ¾ of the asparagus. There are special pots to cook asparagus in but who has one of those? Instead you can use a non-stick frying pan.

Add water, squeeze in the lemons, wine, salt and butter and bring it to a boil. Add the asparagus and simmer until they are cooked through. If there isn’t enough liquid to cover the asparagus double the recipe. This can be a bit hard to calculate because it largely depends on how big the asparagus is and how big the pan is. Once they are cooked through set aside until serving.

Hollandaise Sauce

2 egg yolks
1 lemon
2 dl / 0.85 cups melted butter
1 tbsp water
Salt, pepper

Now let’s move on to the Hollandaise sauce. Melt the butter, keep it warm. In a pot add the egg yolks, water,  squeeze in the juice of the lemon and add some salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs and other ingredients on low heat until it heats and starts to thicken.

Once the eggs have thickened but are still smooth remove from the heat and add the butter a few drops at the time while whisking. If the sauce starts to get very thick then add a few drops of water to thin it. Once all the butter is in check the flavor and add more salt, pepper and lemon juice if necessary.

Now all you have to do is plate it. Add one piece of cod, asparagus and lastly the hollandaise sauce. Eat. Good luck and I hope you like it as much as I do.

Grilled shrimp with asparagus, cilantro and lime

serves 4

16 Vannamei shrimps
16 asparagus
4 limes
a handful of fresh cilantro
1 red chili
2 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper

Cut the limes in half and cook them in a frying pan in a little bit of oil until they are browned. This will heat the lime and give the juice a slight burnt note and make it taste a bit sweeter. It also looks cool, food stylists love to do this with lemons and limes all the time.

Dice the chili, grill or sear the shrimps quickly until they are done, then toss them in the chopped chili. Cut the asparagus in half lengthwise and toss them in a few drops of olive oil and then grill them.

Arrange the shrimps and asparagus on a plate, squeeze over the warm lime and add some fresh cilantro and some extra salt and pepper. Serve.