Last gasp of asparagus

Saying good-bye to a Spring favourite.

When I see asparagus in the grocery stores and at the farmers market, I know it is officially Spring. It’s time for new lettuce, spinach and other greens, chives and wild leeks, wild mushrooms and woodruff. I can smell the fresh moist woody earth if I think about it and hold on to the fresh asparagus stems in my hand.

In Season

I don’t know about you, but when asparagus is in season, more than almost any other vegetable other than maybe tomatoes, I make something with it almost every day. Asparagus salad, steamed, raw in dips, in pastry, soup……it goes on.

At this point, asparagus is on its way out. Sadly. When I cook it now, it’s not as fresh as it might be cooked, baked and of course, in soup. This version of baked asparagus is a spin off of a French version of baked endives with ham and gruyère cheese that my mom sometimes made. She would slice the endives in half, sometimes depending on how fresh the endives were, she would sauté them a little before hand, lay cooked ham on top and bake them with gruyère. The cheese is critical here because gruyère has a rich earthy flavour and can stand up to both the endive and in this case, asparagus. It’s perfect with the ham everything with a little saltiness and creaminess. In France, this recipe might have a béchamel sauce along with it, I don’t make it mainly because I don’t want the calories and I love it simply with the flavours of just a few ingredients.