There the asparagus are, ready to break through the tender earth with their tips and shine in the spring sun.
We are a little impatient to enjoy them properly; in the meantime, let’s open some of our jars of pickled asparagus and let ourselves be inebriated by their characteristic scent and taste.
ASPARAGUS CROUTONS
This is a quick and easy recipe to make, with which you will amaze your diners and, above all, enrapture their palate. Perfect as an appetiser, original in buffets or standing dinners.
Need: bread, pickled asparagus, one egg, mayonnaise
Get some baguette-type bread, cut it into thin slices and toast it well. Alternatively, you can use ready-made croutons that you can find in any supermarket. Boil the egg and once cooled, peel it and place it in a potato masher to make the ‘mimosa’ egg. Open a jar of pickled asparagus and drain the shoots in a colander. Once well drained, cut them to a length equal to that of the croutons. You now have all the ingredients you need for the croutons ready. Spread a layer of mayonnaise on each crouton, top with a little mimosa egg and finally lay the cut asparagus on top. Prepare and serve quickly. Do not make the croutons in advance: the bread will get all soggy and the poetry of this simple but delicious appetiser will end.
(recipe by Silvia Tavella)
Quiches or savoury pies there are for all tastes and playing with various ingredients. Here we propose a recipe that is a little original and unusual in our kitchens, replacing puff pastry with phyllo pastry.
ASPARAGUS AND CAMEMBERT QUICHE IN PHYLLO PASTRY
A tasty dish that is easy to prepare and ideal as an entrée. Due to its hearty ingredients, it can replace a first course.
Need: 4 sheets of filo pastry, 350 g camembert, 40 g sliced almonds, 100 g cream, 100 g milk, 60 g butter, 3 eggs, 1 bunch of green asparagus, salt, pepper.
Melt the butter over a very gentle flame and brush a 24 cm diameter mould with some of it. Arrange the sheets of phyllo pastry, overlapping them, after brushing them with melted butter and sprinkling with the slivered almonds. Fold in the excess pastry flaps. Clean the asparagus, wash them and boil them for five minutes in salted boiling water; drain them. Heat the oven to 180° . Cut the cheese into slices and place them on the bottom of the pastry. Beat the milk with the cream and eggs, season with salt and pepper and pour the mixture over the cheese. Arrange the asparagus on top of the quiche in a sunburst pattern and bake for forty minutes. Then leave to rest for five minutes, turn out onto a plate and serve.
