Your favorite produce section feels familiar yet odd. While cosmic crisps and cruciferous types are a winter lifeline, the apples now suffer in silence, and the sprouts are gone. The shifty state is thanks to the new season and its long-awaited bounty, like perfectly pointy, greener-than-grass, spunkier-than-onion asparagus—just in time for spring cleaning.
Pans and pantries at the ready.
Quick Asparagus Basics
A bite of asparagus is contradictory at best. The spears are bitter but sweet, tender at the top and chewy at the stems. But even with a unique spirit, it is versatile in the kitchen.
You can truly cook the contrary spears any way that suits your fancy; here is my complete guide on buying, storing, and cooking basics
The springtime crop enhances any dish, and its bitterness holds its own against bold, smoky, and spicy flavors. Roasted spears tossed with farfalle, olive tapenade, and warm zippy goat cheese is not your mom’s pasta primavera. It offers far more nuance. Especially if you crisp up smoky Merguez sausage or season ground lamb with my homemade spice blend.
If you stock dried pasta of any shape, olive salad, and any variety of chili paste the dish can help you spring-clean your pantry. Regardless, the effort is minimal, and the flavors are bold and comforting.
Why I Love Roasting Asparagus
In my experience, roasted asparagus wins the blue ribbon (and begets happy clients). It caramelizes the spears’ plant sugars in perfect moderation. Grilling risks charring the delicate tips to carcinogenic bits if you step away even briefly. If you steam or boil, you get zilch of the Maillard Reaction: the natural process that creates golden brown and delicious (technical culinary term).
Roasting in the oven. The oven's heat is like a loving grandfather, even-keeled and dependable. Asparagus emerge with an addictive sweetness and beautiful suntan. Coat trimmed asparagus in oil, season with salt, and cook at 425° F until the thickest piece is easily pierced with a fork. Shake the pan a time or two for evenly caramelized bites, and that’s all, folks.
Pan-roasting. When done correctly, pan-roasting yields results similar to those of an oven. It works well for a thinner, dantier bunch. But you need to monitor the heat level and adjust as you cook. Warm ghee or oil over medium-high heat and cook the asparagus in one layer. Cook undisturbed for several minutes to encourage browning, then flip. Once the pieces are bronzed on all sides, add a splash of water, cover the pan, and cook until the largest is fork-tender at its base. Add more water as necessary, or none if tender after the sauté.
Shopping Smart
When in season, asparagus is often on sale. Choose bright green, perky bunches without blemishes. The slimmer the spear, the more tender the bite.
Farfalle pasta is the little bow-tie kind, but you can use any shape on your shelf. If you find an ancient or whole-grain farfalle, you will add more fiber to your meal. While satisfying, traditional white pasta offers carbohydrate overload and few nutrients.
Olive tapenade and muffuletta mix are olive salads with different blends of garlic, pickled vegetables, peppers, or pepperoncini. Muffuletta mix, a New Orleans-style olive salad, tends to be spicier than traditional. Any version adds tons of flavor to any dish.
Merguez is a spicy North African lamb sausage brimming with smoky spices and harissa, a hot chili pepper paste. It can be hard to find, so seek out local butchers and specialty markets or order online. You can make a cheat version at home with ground lamb and the signature spices: fennel seed, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, paprika, and a few spoonfuls of harissa or any chili paste or sauce. Andouille and chorizo are its distant cousins and easier to find. Slice thick and brown precooked links if you can’t find fresh sausage.
Harissa is sold in jars; look for it in the international foods aisle. Good substitutes are Sriracha, Korean gochujang, or a 2:1 ratio of ground pimentón (smoked paprika) and cayenne.
But I Don’t Like Lamb
If lamb doesn’t get you salivating, replace it with grass-fed beef, bison, pork, or ground turkey. Or keep it vegetarian; the dish is just as lovely.
On types of meat. Because pastured animals eat their natural diet of grass, the fat profile of their meat is different. And it contains more omega-3 fatty acids, an essential nutrient we humans fall short on. If you are willing to shell out for it, I recommend pastured or local rancher meat over conventional. Most meat at the grocery store comes from sick animals raised in confinement that eat a processed feed of corn and soy. Even the organic.
Chef’s Tips
Peel woodier spears. If your asparagus harbors thick, stocky stems, I recommend peeling the outer skin off the bottom two-thirds. A y-shaped vegetable peeler is the best tool.
Give your asparagus room to breathe. Cooking forces ingredients to ditch their water content, so if you pack them like sardines, the pieces will steam each other with abandon. Always give your food space if the goal is a brown exterior and tender inside.
Crisp the meat well. A crispy nibble adds more nuance to the plate than a mushy one. Once the meat is brown (no more pink), crank the heat up for a few minutes to crisp it. If it sticks, add a little canola or avocado oil or water.
Adjust the lamb spices to your taste. Merguez is a spicy sausage with a kick from harissa paste and ground red (cayenne) pepper. Dial back the amounts listed for less heat and sensitive tongues or stomachs.
Edible Epilogue
I love asparagus and honestly had trouble deciding what recipe to share. Coating the spears in hollandaise may be old school, but I find it a real treat for the senses. Fried eggs with asparagus are a delicious, healthful way to start or end the day. But inspiration struck when I came across ground lamb during my grocery travels this week.
When paired with salty olives, pickled peppers, and smoky, spicy bites of lamb, bitter asparagus shines and submits simultaneously. The dish pleased every single taste bud and family member in my house. Which can be hard to do no matter the season.
Eat + be well,
Christina
Roasted Asparagus Farfalle with Tapenade, Merguez & Chèvre
Garnish the finished dish with herbs; dill or chives would jive especially well. Empty whatever is left in your jar of olive salad or chopped-up pitted olives. Sprinkle or grate any cheese from your fridge, or buy a small log of fresh goat cheese. Bonus if it’s covered in herbs.
Ingredients
2 bunches of asparagus, stems trimmed, and spears cut into thirds
1 pound of whole grain farfalle (or any pasta)
6 ounces of fresh Merguez sausage or ground lamb
¾ to 1 cup of olive tapenade or muffuletta mix
1 log of chèvre (fresh goat cheese)
Avocado or canola oil for roasting
Sea salt and ground black pepper
Fresh Italian parsley, dill, or chives, chopped or torn, optional
Lemon wedges or juice, for garnish, optional
Cheat Merguez Spice Blend
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika or pimentón (or regular paprika)
1 teaspoon each: ground fennel seed, cumin, coriander, and garlic powder
1 small spoonful of harissa paste or a pinch of ground cayenne pepper
Method
Roast the asparagus. Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C). Coat the asparagus pieces lightly in oil and season with salt. Spread in one layer on a rimmed baking pan. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes until the largest pieces are fork-tender.
Boil the pasta and brown the lamb. Boil the farfalle in a large pot until just tender (refer to the package and taste as it boils), then drain, reserving a half cup of the liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and toss with the tapenade. While the pasta cooks, brown the ground lamb or merguez over medium heat in a wide sauté pan (squeeze fresh sausage out of the casing if needed). Add the spices as it cooks if you’re using ground lamb (you won’t need them if you find Merguez).
Build your pasta. Add the crisped lamb or sausage to the pot with the pasta. Toss to combine over medium heat to reduce the cooking liquid, then turn off the heat until the asparagus is ready.
Finish and garnish with goat cheese, lemon, and herbs. Mix in the roasted asparagus, taste, and season with salt and black pepper to your liking. Crumble as much goat cheese as you like into the pasta or on top as a garnish. Sprinkle on any chopped fresh herbs and serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.