Recipes – № 56
Shaved Asparagus Salad
I can't think of a better way of celebrating super fresh asparagus than a simple salad of this spring vegetable shaved raw. Yes, you can eat raw asparagus and it's crunchy, juicy and delicious. Purple asparagus is ideal because it's sweeter and more tender than green asparagus and the contrast between the purple skin and the light green interior is beautiful. But purple asparagus isn't very common and fresh green asparagus makes a fantastic salad too.
Serves 6 as a light appetizer or small side salad
3 Tbsp pine nuts
1 lb purple or green asparagus (or a mix). Large spears are easier to shave.
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp olive oil
1 chunk Parmesan for shaving
3/8 tsp fine sea salt
Equipment: Mandoline slicer
Heat a small saucepan over low heat. Add the pine nuts and toast briefly while shaking the pan frequently. Once the nuts begin to brown and become fragrant, immediately remove them from the pan and set aside. Left in the hot pan, pine nuts will quickly burn, even away from the heat.
Rinse the asparagus and snap off the fibrous stem ends by bending the bottom part of each spear between your hands. The asparagus naturally breaks just where the stringier part begins.
Fill a large bowl with water and ice cubes and place a colander inside it (or remove the ice cubes from the water once it's sufficiently chilled). Shave the asparagus spears lengthwise with the mandoline set to 1.3mm or thereabout. Pay close attention - it's easy to get your fingers into the blade. Place the shaved asparagus into the ice bath for a few minutes. The ice water crisps up the asparagus and creates curls that take the dressing well. Drain the asparagus thoroughly and gently toss it in a dry bowl with the olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Serve immediately in individual plates and sprinkle with the pine nuts and some parmesan shaved at about 0.5mm. You'll want to shave off about an ounce from your parmesan chunk in total.
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