A Hungry Bear

I found this simple recipe for roasted asparagus with sauteed mushrooms and a Parmesan reduction dressing (described as a warm “salad”) in Food & Wine a couple of months ago. The torn-out page has been in my food ideas binder for a long time, until I made it, and I think I accidentally tossed it out. And after countless searches on F&W online, I can’t find it, to provide a link to the original. Sorry about that. But for now, if you’re looking for a way to mix up roasted asparagus, try this!

Grocery list: 1 pound asparagus, handful of cremini or shitake mushrooms (about 4 ounces), a 3-4 ounce block of Parmesan cheese, 2 shallots, 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, olive oil.

The trick to perfect roasted asparagus (crispy on the outside but tender inside) is to first blanch the asparagus by dropping it into boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Drain the asparagus, then cool quickly by rinsing with cold water.

Thoroughly dry the asparagus spears with a towel. If the asparagus is wet when it goes into the oven to roast, the water will steam it so it won’t get crunchy. Dry heat will make it nice and crisp on the outside.  Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast in a 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes.

Use a vegetable peeler to slice a block of parmesan into thin ribbons. Place about 1.5 cups in a small saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil.

When the parmesan begins to separate after 10 minutes…

…strain into a measuring cup. I’ve found that if you line a mesh strainer with a square of cheesecloth, this works really well AND is really easy to clean up (just toss the cheesecloth and the collected scraps).

This is what’s leftover from the parmesan - some rubbery stuff. If I was really industrious I could find out what this is, if you can use it for anything, maybe even learn more about the cheese making process, but I’m not.  Anyway, measure out the liquid after straining - there should be about one cup.  Place it back in a shallow saucepan and heat to boiling over medium heat - reduce liquid by half.

There should be about 1/2 cup of the Parmesan reduction now - transfer to a measuring cup so it can cool somewhat.  Also, mince the shallots, and divide in half (half will go in the dressing, the other half in the sauteed mushrooms).

Whisk half of the minced shallots and the Parmesan reduction together.

Add 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, and whisk to combine.  That’s the dressing - I bet it would be good on a lot of different salads too.

Thinly slice the mushrooms.  Cook them, along with the rest of the minced shallots, over medium-high flame in a little olive oil for about 5-6 minutes, until they start to turn brown.

Remove the mushrooms from heat, and season with salt and pepper.

The asparagus is done - perfectly roasted thanks to the blanching and drying steps!

Assemble by plating the asparagus, serving a scoop of mushrooms on top, with a drizzle of dressing over everything.