Asparagus Sauce
Submitted by capegirl
Asparagus sauce blends boiled asparagus tops with unsalted butter and infuses heavy cream with the woody ends, creating a silky verdant sauce ideal for pasta, fish, or grilled chicken. San Francisco chef’s elegant green sauce.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
30 minREADY
45 minAsparagus sauce is a clever San Francisco-chef technique that uses every part of the spear instead of throwing the woody ends in the bin. The tops get pureed with butter into a vibrant green base; the discarded ends infuse the cream with their concentrated grassy flavor. Combined together, the sauce captures more total asparagus flavor than methods that use just the tips.
The “slightly overcook” instruction in this recipe is genuinely critical and goes against everything most cooks know about asparagus. For eating whole, you want crisp-tender. For pureeing, undercooked asparagus stays fibrous and won’t blend smooth, while properly cooked asparagus purees into silk.
Processing the hot asparagus with butter (rather than separately) is what creates the sauce’s emulsified, silky texture. The hot vegetable melts the butter into a unified base; cold asparagus and cold butter never bond properly.
Simmering the woody ends in cream for 20 minutes is the secret extraction step. Most cooks would rather toss those ends in compost, but the cream pulls the dense, concentrated asparagus flavor out of them. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing gently to extract every bit of green flavor.
Pro Tips
- Snap the asparagus where it bends naturally to find the boundary between tender and woody. Save those snapped ends for the cream infusion.
- Use unsalted butter so you control the salt level. Salted butter throws off the seasoning balance with the cream.
- Heat the combined sauce gently to just below a boil. Boiling breaks the emulsion and the sauce separates into puddles of butter and milky water.
- Use immediately. Asparagus sauce loses its bright green color within an hour as the chlorophyll oxidizes. Make it the moment you need it.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve before serving for the silkiest possible texture.
Variations
- Toss with cooked pappardelle or fettuccine for a quick spring pasta dish.
- Spoon over grilled or pan-seared white fish or scallops for an elegant entree.
- Stir in 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for a richer, cheesier sauce.
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the asparagus and snap off the white ends. Set aside all tops and half that number of ends. Plunge the tops into a large pot of salted, boiling water and cook until limp but not for too long. (Note: Cook slightly longer than for eating. If undercooked, they will not process well; if overcooked, they will taste earthy.)
Drain the asparagus thoroughly and, while still hot, run it through food processor with unsalted butter for 3 to 4 minutes until smooth, scraping down the sides of the processor frequently.
Meanwhile, chop asparagus ends to remove the dry hard field cuts and simmer with cream. Cook the ends slowly for 20 minutes, then strain, pressing through gently. Just before serving, combine asparagus, butter and cream. Heat slowly to just below boiling point. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
Preparation time: ¾ Hour
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