ROASTED ASPARAGUS WITH ALMONDS, CAPERS AND DILL
Why this one?
Asparagus season is upon us and with the exception of the pungent smelling wee resulting from eating these glorious green spears there is nothing better on a summery day. I am a true believer in showing people you love them through food so when my mum came over for social distance catch up I was in my element cooking something new, infusing it with my love for my Mumma strengthened by absence.
Find the recipe here... https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019264-roasted-asparagus-with-buttered-almonds-capers-and-dill
Any substitutes?
I didn't have Dill so used Fennel instead
No flaked almonds but used blanched ones chopped up
The actual cooking of the dish
I managed to whipped this up when the baby was napping - putting the asparagus into roast while I took her upstairs. Back down in time to colour the nuts in the butter and cook the capers in the oil.
As a habitual boiler of asparagus, roasting it was a brilliantly easy discovery. Simple place it on a roasting tray with oil and salt and cook for 8-12 minutes. My asparagus spears where pretty chunky so I went for 12 minutes cooking time.
Take the asparagus out of the oven and pour over the buttered nuts and capers and sprinkle with dill/fennel.
What I thought
Let me set the scene, I was seeing my mum face to face for the first time in what felt like forever, we were sat outside, baby napping, in the warm sunshine looking out over the cacophonous of colour from my garden. As I am sure you can imagine it was already pretty wonderful when I set down a sparklingly white serving dish with seven spears of forest green asparagus sprinkled with caramelised nut and fluffy sprigs of fennel and tiny dark, earthy green nodules of capers. It looked just liked the picture in the book - tick number one.
Immediate I was struck by the perfect balance of salt, the asparagus stems soft but still holding their form while the nutty butter dripped gloriously from the slightly charred tips creating a unexpected taste of toasted brown bread. The combination was perfect, the crunch of the nuts, then the sweetness of the green flesh punctuated by the aniseed of the fennel. It was so good I "accidentally" (honestly) swiped from the plate the last morsel my mum was saving in an attempt to savour the deliciousness.
Difficulty: Easy, although does need 2 pans which is annoying for washing up.
Tastiness rating: 10/10
Next time I'd.... just make more of it and use flaked almonds only because it will save me having to chop up whole almonds.
Why this one?
Asparagus season is upon us and with the exception of the pungent smelling wee resulting from eating these glorious green spears there is nothing better on a summery day. I am a true believer in showing people you love them through food so when my mum came over for social distance catch up I was in my element cooking something new, infusing it with my love for my Mumma strengthened by absence.
Find the recipe here... https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019264-roasted-asparagus-with-buttered-almonds-capers-and-dill
Any substitutes?
I didn't have Dill so used Fennel instead
No flaked almonds but used blanched ones chopped up
The actual cooking of the dish
I managed to whipped this up when the baby was napping - putting the asparagus into roast while I took her upstairs. Back down in time to colour the nuts in the butter and cook the capers in the oil.
As a habitual boiler of asparagus, roasting it was a brilliantly easy discovery. Simple place it on a roasting tray with oil and salt and cook for 8-12 minutes. My asparagus spears where pretty chunky so I went for 12 minutes cooking time.
Take the asparagus out of the oven and pour over the buttered nuts and capers and sprinkle with dill/fennel.
What I thought
Let me set the scene, I was seeing my mum face to face for the first time in what felt like forever, we were sat outside, baby napping, in the warm sunshine looking out over the cacophonous of colour from my garden. As I am sure you can imagine it was already pretty wonderful when I set down a sparklingly white serving dish with seven spears of forest green asparagus sprinkled with caramelised nut and fluffy sprigs of fennel and tiny dark, earthy green nodules of capers. It looked just liked the picture in the book - tick number one.
Immediate I was struck by the perfect balance of salt, the asparagus stems soft but still holding their form while the nutty butter dripped gloriously from the slightly charred tips creating a unexpected taste of toasted brown bread. The combination was perfect, the crunch of the nuts, then the sweetness of the green flesh punctuated by the aniseed of the fennel. It was so good I "accidentally" (honestly) swiped from the plate the last morsel my mum was saving in an attempt to savour the deliciousness.
Difficulty: Easy, although does need 2 pans which is annoying for washing up.
Tastiness rating: 10/10
Next time I'd.... just make more of it and use flaked almonds only because it will save me having to chop up whole almonds.
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