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White asparagus with browned butter and fried cabbage shoots

White asparagus is the ultimate luxury food this spring. It’s only in season for a short time, so it’s important to enjoy it while it’s available. The combination of browned butter and anchovies tastes absolutely delicious with the white asparagus.

Ingredients

Asparagus:
800g white asparagus
About 12 lovely cabbage shoots
Sauce:
120g butter
50g Parmesan
8 anchovy fillets in olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
The juice of half a lemon
1 large clove of garlic
Freshly ground pepper

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Instructions

White asparagus:

Trim 0.5 cm off the ends and peel the white asparagus thoroughly from the tip downwards. Fry the asparagus in a large, heavy-based frying pan in olive oil or clarified butter over a low heat for approx. 12–15 minutes, turning them so they brown slowly on all sides. Season with salt and pepper.

Tip! The asparagus trimmings are pure gold, as they add loads of flavour to soup and stock. So don’t throw them away! You can either boil the trimmings in water and store the liquid in the fridge (if you plan to make soup within the next few days) and/or place the trimmings in a preserving jar and pour a good apple cider or lager vinegar over them. That way, you can make a delicious asparagus vinegar in just a few days.

Sauce:
Finely chop the anchovies and garlic. Put the butter in a saucepan, melt it and brown it, stirring constantly, until it sizzles, turns a light brown colour and smells of hazelnuts. Add the anchovies and garlic, stir well, then add the lemon juice and pepper and season to taste.
Serving:
Divide the asparagus between 4 plates, spoon the sauce over the top – making sure to stir the sauce well so you get all the goodness from the bottom – place the cabbage on top, sprinkle with shavings of Parmesan and finish with finely grated lemon zest. Serve immediately.