Asparagus cooks quickly, so make sure to have all your ingredients ready by the stove. It’s best served warm or room temperature; ice-cold asparagus is unpleasant.
How to Buy and Store Asparagus
Asparagus comes in different shades and sizes, and each has its strengths. Here are some tips on how best to choose, clean, and store it.
Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
What does asparagus’s color mean?
There are three colors of asparagus: green, purple, and white.
Green asparagus is by far the most common and is available year-round in American supermarkets. You’ll find thin, medium, and fat green spears in almost any market. Whatever its thickness, green asparagus should be cooked al dente.
White asparagus is more common in Europe. It is white because the plants are covered in mulch to prevent them from developing the chlorophyll that gives plants their green color. White asparagus must be completely peeled from tip to tail, and, unlike green, should be well-cooked. It is a mistake to cook green and white asparagus together.
Purple asparagus has a beautiful violet skin that turns dark green when cooked. Its taste is similar to that of green asparagus.
Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
What about its thickness?
Asparagus usually comes in three sizes: pencil-thin, medium, and jumbo. The thickness of the asparagus does not indicate its maturity; a thin asparagus spear does not grow into a fat one. What you’ll choose is based on personal preference and what you’re cooking. Some describe thin spears as grassy or thicker ones as meaty.
Thin asparagus is great for stir-fries and sautéing.
Fat asparagus is good for roasting or grilling, and best when you want to serve whole spears, even simply steamed.
Medium spears work in almost any cooking method.
Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
How should I store asparagus?
Store your asparagus in your crisper drawer, wrapped in a damp paper towel and then in a plastic bag, no longer than three days. Do not clean it first. Or you can store asparagus upright in a container with an inch of water. Place it in the fridge, uncovered.
Preparing the Asparagus
Before you begin cooking, take a minute to snap or cut off the tough bottom ends of the asparagus. If you have nice fat spears, peel their tough skin away too. We’ll show you how.
How to Snap Off the Ends
Snapping off woody asparagus bottoms gives you spears of slightly different lengths, but guarantees no tough ends when you sit down to eat.
To snap, hold a spear with both hands and find the natural bending point near the bottom of the stalk. Then snap. Make sure your hands really are near the bottom, or you risk discarding too much; a stalk will snap in the middle if you’re not careful. The spear should break at a point where the asparagus has started to lose its moisture.
Cutting your spears is fine as long as you take care to avoid the woody ends. (But please, don’t use the discarded ends to make anything but compost.)
Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
How to Peel Asparagus
The skin on larger asparagus spears doesn’t soften with cooking, which is why it’s best to peel the lower stalks of medium or fat spears, both green and purple. Always peel white asparagus.
To peel, place the spear flat on your work surface. Using a vegetable peeler, preferably one with a swivel blade, peel the asparagus from about halfway up the spear toward the root end. Never peel the tips. Use a light hand, or you’ll peel off too much of the sweet core.
Asparagus can be peeled a few hours ahead of time, wrapped, and refrigerated.
How to Roast Asparagus
Roasting asparagus allows for a slight caramelizing of the vegetable’s skin. It’s luscious and a fast way to get delicious asparagus on the table without standing at the stove.
Here’s a very simple method that just requires olive oil, salt, and pepper, but you can add other spices as well: cayenne, red pepper flakes, or smoked salt. Or try chopped walnuts, a sprinkle of grated Parmesan, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Heat your oven to 425 degrees, and dress asparagus spears lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan in one layer and roast until lightly browned and sizzling, and just firm-tender. If you are roasting on a baking sheet, that should take 10 to 12 minutes, or about 15 minutes in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan. The trick here is getting the spears nicely colored without overcooking them, and you should always err on the undercooked side — asparagus will continue to cook off the heat.
Credit…Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Carrie Purcell.
How to Steam, Blanch, and Simmer Asparagus
Simply steamed or simmered asparagus is delicious, and you can dress the spears however you like: in a bagna cauda, with lemon juice and olive oil, or nothing at all. Any size spear will work, although medium is best. We’ll also tell you how to blanch asparagus, a useful method when incorporating the vegetable into other dishes.
How to Steam Asparagus
It’s easy to cook asparagus in a steamer. Bring 1 inch of well-salted water to a boil in a pot with a steamer insert, and place the spears in the steamer in a single layer. (If necessary, work in batches; do not pile in the asparagus or try to cook too many at a time.) Cover the pot and cook for about 3 minutes, depending upon size of spears. Err on the undercooked side — asparagus will continue to cook off the heat.
Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and blot the excess water away with a towel.
How to Simmer Asparagus
Simmering asparagus is another easy way to cook asparagus quickly, and a good option if you don’t own a steamer.
In a wide pot, boil a few inches of generously salted water and add your asparagus. Cook at a rapid simmer for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the size of your asparagus. Again, don’t cook too many at one time; a dozen in the pot at once is plenty. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and blot to remove any remaining water.
Old recipes sometimes call for using twine to tie asparagus into bundles, to make it easier to retrieve them from the water. If you do, blot the cooked bundle, transfer to a platter, and snip the twine with kitchen shears.
How to Blanch Asparagus
Spring pasta dishes may call for blanching asparagus, and it’s quite simple.
In a wide pot, boil a few inches of generously salted water and add your asparagus, either whole stalks or cut into pieces. Cook at a rapid simmer for 1 minutes. Then immediately plunge the spears into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking and to keep them green. Remove from ice
water and blot, otherwise risk waterlogged asparagus.
How to Prepare Raw Asparagus
Tender, sweet asparagus can be delicious raw and dressed simply with olive oil, lemon, and salt. And you don’t even need to turn on your stove.
Fat asparagus works best in raw preparations, like this fast recipe for a delicious asparagus salad.
Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, slice 6 to 8 fat asparagus spears very thinly on the diagonal. (Alternatively, you can cut them on a mandoline, or use a peeler to slice them lengthwise into long, thin ribbons.) Pile them into a bowl and dress with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss and serve.
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