"/>

Borders Stores

SHOPPING CART


Appetizers
Beverages
Desserts
Entrees
Quick and Easy
Side Dishes
Soups & Salads
Holiday Cooking
Holiday Baking
	Borders Book Club Recipes

Recipes

Sauté of White Asparagus, Morels, and Ramps Over Polenta
from Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

White asparagus, ramps, and morels are the caviar, foie gras, and truffles of the vegetable world. Simply sautéing them together in brown butter and serving them with creamy polenta is one of my favorite ways to enjoy these edible trophies of spring.

NOTE You can blanch the asparagus and ramps a few hours ahead. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Snap off the ends of the asparagus (they will break naturally where their toughness begins), and peel the stalks.

30 stalks white asparagus,
double-pencil-sized (about 2 pounds untrimmed)
12 pencil-thin ramps, leaves attached
6 ounces morels, stems trimmed, cleaned (see page 32)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
Polenta (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon sliced flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Snap off the ends of the asparagus (they will break naturally where their toughness begins), and peel the stalks.

Clean the ramps and prepare the ramps according to the method described on page 33.

Blanch the asparagus in heavily salted boiling water about 5 minutes, until tender. To test for doneness, take a spear out of the water, cut a small piece off the end, and taste it. (Remember, the spears will continue to cook a little as they cool.) Carefully remove the asparagus to a baking sheet to cool.

If the morels are large, cut them in half.

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. (If you don't have a pan that’s large enough to hold all of the vegetables, heat two pans and divide ingredients accordingly.) Add 4 tablespoons butter to the pan, and when it foams, scatter the morels into the pan, being careful not to overcrowd them. Sauté the mushrooms 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. Turn down the heat to medium, and add the thyme, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Let the mushrooms cook another 6 to 8 minutes. They should be crispy on the outside, yet still tender. (The amount of cooking time really depends on the mushrooms; sometimes they give off water, which will require a longer cooking time, to allow the water to evaporate and the morels to crisp.)

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the mushrooms, and place the blanched asparagus carefully in the pan. Toss to coat the asparagus in all the mushroomy brown butter, and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the ramps to the pan, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook another 2 minutes, tossing often so all the flavors meld and everything is coated in the butter. Taste for seasoning.

Spoon the polenta onto a large warm platter. Using tongs, arrange the asparagus and ramps, randomly overlapping them over the polenta. Spoon the morels and all the butter over the top, and scatter the parsley over everything.

Polenta

This recipe was perfected by Brian Wolff, our lovably obsessive-compulsive chef de cuisine at Lucques. He developed it using our cornmeal of choice from Bob's Red Mill. If you're using a different polenta, the cooking time and quantities of water might be a little different. The most important thing to learn from this recipe is the technique. Keep adding a little water at a time throughout the cooking process. There are only a few ingredients, so the cook makes all the difference. Watch carefully, and let the polenta tell you when it needs more water. And most of all, stir, stir, stir!

1 cup medium-grain polenta (see Sources)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Kosher salt

In a heavy-bottomed pot, bring 5½ cups water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add the polenta slowly, whisking continuously. Turn the heat down to low, and continue cooking for another 20 minutes, whisking often. Add another ½ cup water and cook 1 more hour, whisking often and adding ½ cup water as needed, about every 20 minutes. The flame should be low, so that the polenta is barely simmering. As you whisk, make sure that you reach the bottom of the pan to prevent the polenta from scorching. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot.

Whisk in the butter, and taste for seasoning. Even when the polenta is finished, you might sense it thickening up a little. If so, add a little more water and whisk to get the right consistency. If you're not serving right away, cover the pan with plastic wrap to keep the polenta from thickening or losing moisture. If necessary, rewarm over low heat before serving.