Esparragos verdes a la plancha (grilled green asparagus)
During my childhood, we went every year during the summer holidays to visit my grandparents and their family in my father's native village; Los Prados de Armijo. This village is located in the middle of the olive trees and is split in half by a valley, so you could take a walk (uphill) to the other side via a winding road around the valley. While walking past my uncle's goats and chickens, I can still remember rosemary and asparagus growing wild at the edge of the road. Because of that memory, it is perhaps one of my favorite vegetables that actually goes with everything.
Unfortunately, at home in the Netherlands I have to buy asparagus in the supermarket at the market. In my own kitchen I can transform them into a healthy side dish for meat or fish, for example.
One of the cooking techniques that I regularly use is cooking "sous-vide", which means cooking under water. You can prepare food to the correct core temperature to within a tenth of a degree in a vacuum-sealed airtight bag. For green asparagus I do this at 84 degrees for 14 minutes. This is an optional step in the preparation, my experience is that the asparagus then remains intact. Afterwards, the plastic bags are neatly disposed of with the PMD waste.
In this dish I use olive oil in two ways. Brush the asparagus with olive oil to ensure heat conduction during baking and I finish the dish by sprinkling a premium olive oil over it for some extra spice.
For this dish for 2 people you need:
- A bundle of green asparagus
- Oro de Genave olive oil
- An olive oil to finish the dish
- Balsamic vinegar
- Pepper and salt
Preparation:
- Clean the asparagus with water and cut off the hard bottom about 2 to 3 centimeters. Of course, you should stay away from your top; that's the best part.
- Optional; Cook the asparagus sous-vide for 14 minutes at 84 degrees, dry thoroughly afterwards.
- Heat a grill pan.
- Rub the asparagus well with the Oro de Genave olive oil.
- Grill the asparagus until the asparagus is cooked and has a nice grill color.
- When the asparagus is ready, place it on a plate and drizzle with a premium olive oil such as Verde Segura, Saqura , Arte Oleum or Señorios de Relleu and balsamic vinegar.
Buen provecho!