Flemish White Asparagus with a Twist

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‘White gold’ is the term lovingly given to white asparagus in this country - and they’re in season. The demand for them is so great that asparagus farmers in the vicinity of Amsterdam were forced to hire traffic guards over Easter weekend, just to keep some kind of order in the sheer number of customers coming their way. The difference between white asparagus and green ones, is that the white ones grow underground or covered from sunlight, whereas green ones grow above-ground and have a ‘grassier’ taste. Because I’ve always been more partial to the green ones, I decided it was time to see what all the fuss is about and go white. 


Ingredients (serves 2):
500g white asparagus
3 eggs
10g parsley
100g butter
pinch of nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper

(Optional: long slice of leek to tie the asparagus together)

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the asparagus using a vegetable peeler and cut off the hard ends off the stalks. Add them to the boiling water, then turn off the heat and let them ‘cook’ for 15 minutes in the hot water.

2. In a separate pan, bring water to a boil and boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes until they are hard boiled. (I actually under-erred a little on the timing when I did this, which is why my sauce is a bit yellower than yours will be. No regrets about the taste, but I still recommend you aim for hard boiled.)

3. In a small saucepan, add about 6 tbsp of liquid from the asparagus and bring to the boil. Mix in the butter and whisk until blended.

4. Peel the eggs and chop them into small pieces. Add to the butter mixture together with the parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper. If needed, add a bit more of the liquid from the asparagus depending on the thickness you want for your sauce.

5. Place the asparagus on a plate and cover with the egg butter mixture. Serve as a starter, or as a main with boiled potatoes.

*(For presentation, instead of lying them down I cut the asparagus in half and tied them together using a long ribbon of leek).

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