Grilled Asparagus
 
from Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks
by Linda Carucci, May 2005

When shipped in boxes with wet packing material at the bottom, asparagus will continue to draw up water and grow even after they're harvested. As a grower explained when I visited a Monterey County, California asparagus farm, the spears have a little headroom in the packing crates, but sometimes it's not enough, so you'll find asparagus with curved tips at the top as they continue to "grow" in transit.

While at the farm, I was struck by how randomly the asparagus just seem to pop out of the ground in tall, slender spears with no leafy ground cover or orderly rows. In this recipe, they're blanched, marinated, and grilled, which can all be done in advance, then served at room temperature as a side dish--they're perfect with salmon just as they are. Or, you can gussy up grilled asparagus in a variety of ways: After grilling, drizzle with mayonnaise spiked with lemon and anchovy, or sprinkle with crumbled, sautéed pancetta and toasted pine nuts for an elegant appetizer.

For a simple, colorful hors d’oeuvre, roll grilled asparagus in sliced prosciutto. Refrigerate any leftover grilled asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces, and toss into a risotto, omelet, or pasta dish for a smoky-tasting, colorful addition.

Serves 4 to 6
  • 1 1/2 pounds medium asparagus, tough ends snapped off, ends cut on a bias (see Secrets below)
  • Kosher salt
  • About 2 tablespoons garlic-flavored olive oil (see Secrets below)
1. Bring about 4 quarts water to a boil in a 6-quart pot. In the meantime, prepare an ice water bath in a large mixing bowl and stir in about 1 tablespoon kosher salt; set aside.

2. Pour garlic oil onto a large, rimmed baking sheet and tip pan so entire surface is covered with oil. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon kosher salt evenly over entire surface of the oil; set aside.

3. When water boils, add about 1 tablespoon kosher salt. One handful at a time, blanch asparagus in rapidly boiling water for 1 minute. Use a Chinese strainer, tongs, or slotted spoon to immediately transfer blanched asparagus to reserved ice water bath. Leave asparagus in ice water just until they are cool to the touch, then drain and transfer to reserved pan with seasoned olive oil. Roll asparagus in oil to coat evenly. Repeat with remaining asparagus. Let asparagus marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes to 8 hours.

4. Preheat a stovetop or other grill to medium-high heat. Grill asparagus in batches, turning constantly with tongs until grill marks appear on all sides, about 8 minutes total. Transfer to a serving platter.
Recipe Secrets

When buying asparagus, look at the cut ends. If ends are brown or shriveled, asparagus aren't too fresh--white ends indicate they've recently been cut (albeit sometimes by a shrewd produce clerk). When you get home, cut off about 1/2 inch from the cut ends and place in a tall container filled about one-third full with water. Refrigerated this way, asparagus will keep for up to several days. When ready to cook, grab both ends of a spear and flex the asparagus until it breaks. Save the tender, upper part and discard the bottoms, which tend to be stringy and fibrous.

If asparagus are of medium thickness or thinner "pencil" size, it's not necessary to peel them, as their skin isn't too tough. It's your choice whether to peel larger asparagus. Certainly for a rustic preparation such as this, it's not necessary. But if the skins seem tough, use a swivel-type vegetable peeler, lay the asparagus on a cutting board, and remove the thinnest layer of skin from the bottom 1/3 to 2/3 of each spear (after breaking off the fibrous part).

As is the case with many green vegetables, the secret to keeping asparagus green after cooking is to first blanch--or parboil--them, then shock the spears in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and set the color. Salt both the blanching water and the ice water bath to ensure your asparagus will be well seasoned.

If garlic flavored olive oil isn’t available, marinate blanched asparagus in extra virgin olive oil mixed with about 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder. For the sweet flavor of garlic in grilled foods, I don’t use minced fresh garlic because the high heat tends to burn the garlic before the food is cooked, causing an unpleasant, acrid flavor.

For best caramelization, don't crowd asparagus on the grill—if necessary, cook in batches.

Recipe Testers' Comments
  • "Great flavor—can really taste the asparagus (not too much marinade)—the olive oil and garlic make it. Can be served as a side dish with many entrees. Delicious."

  • "Fully cooked, yet they retained their crunch, not mushy
    Ice bath did wonders to keep them bright green. Got great grill marks with stovetop grill. Easy to make with very tasty results. Will add to my everyday repertoire."

  • "Beautiful. Everyone (including my kids) loves these."

Copyright Linda Carucci. All rights reserved.