April and May don’t have much to offer in terms of local and seasonal vegetable. It is what farmers call the beginning of the “Hungry Gap” when nothing much grows... Except for the gorgeous asparagus (well, in all fairness, at this time of the year they grow in Spain and France – not in the UK yet).
Last year I told you all the goodness of this wonderful veg - check it here.
So this year, I thought I would give you a little trick to use as much of the plant and reduce your food waste by using some of the tougher part of the asparagus that is left once you have used your gorgeous asparagus spears in a salad or a risotto.
Ingredients:
1 onion
300 g of asparagus trimming
300 ml chicken stock (homemade or cube)
100 ml single cream
Salt and pepper
Instructions:
Discard the very tough bit of the asparagus (usually white/purple part) – unfortunately nothing can be done with it – and keep the not-so-hard-yet-not-so-tender section.
Peel the outer layer to remove as much as possible of the fibre that might leave an unpleasant feel in your mouth and chop them roughly into small chunks.
In heavy-based saucepan, gently fry the onions until translucent and add the bits of asparagus stalks. Cover with boiling chicken stock, season to taste and leave it to cook for 20 mins until tender.
Place the content of the saucepan into a blender and whiz it until completely smooth (a good minute). Then add the cream and whiz one more time. It is ready to serve.
