White Asparagus with Country Ham and Tonnato Sauce

White Asparagus is most definitely a special spring ingredient.

You won’t find it in many grocery stores, and generally if a place does stock it, the spears will be pencil thin.

Along with morel mushrooms, fresh jumbo white asparagus is one of those products I don’t mind spending up for in spring. (~$20-30 per pound)

If you’re going to splurge for spring specialty products, order a pound from Regalis Foods during the early spring months.

The jumbo white asparagus from Europe has such a unique creaminess and bright sweet flavor (also much less bitter!)

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 30 minutes

FOR WHITE ASPARAGUS:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb white asparagus, jumbo stalks if possible

• 2 Tbsp kosher salt

• 4 Tbsp sugar

• 2 Tbsp butter

• 1-2 quarts whole milk, enough to cover asparagus in pot

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring whole milk to a boil in a large pot. Add salt, sugar, and butter.

2. Clean asparagus by trimming roughly 2’ off the ends. Using a vegetable peeler, start about 2” below the tip of each stalk, peel away the woody outer layer. SAVE THE PEELS AND ENDS! DO NOT DISCARD! I love to add the trimmings into my blanching pot to incorporate even more asparagus flavor into the dish. While peeling asparagus, preserve the spears in cold water while working. The same idea as working with potatoes, we don’t want the veggie to oxidize.

3. Once milk is at a bare simmer, add cleaned asparagus spears, cut ends, and peels to the pot. Cover with a lid and reduce heat to low.

4. Prepare large ice bath with about 2 quarts ice and 4 quarts water in a large bowl.

5. Cook for 5-6 minutes for jumbo stalks, less for thinner sized stalks. You can tell when the asparagus is nearly done when the tip of a knife can be inserted with some resistance. Check your asparagus often, pay close attention to not overcook, aim to cook the asparagus about 75% of the way through.

6. Remove asparagus using tongs or a slotted spoon and place directly in ice bath and cool. Discard peels and end pieces. If you’d like to repurpose the cooking liquid, it can create an awesome base for pasta sauce, ricotta cheese, or other whole milk related applications.

7. After 3-5 minutes of cooling in the ice bath, remove asparagus and set aside while you create your tonnato sauce.

FOR TONNATO SAUCE:

Yield: 1 Cup

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 can Yellowfin Tuna in Oil, best quality you can find. I love Tonnino, find it at Whole Foods, Wegmans, or Amazon.

• **NOTE: Traditional cans are usually 5oz. cans, I use half a can for this recipe. which is about 1/4 cup worth of tuna and oil.

• 1/2 tsp capers

• 1/2 Lemon, juice and zest

• 1/2 clove garlic, minced

• 2 cloves garlic confit (LINK TO MY GARLIC CONFIT RECIPE)

• 1/2 cup mayo, use Kewpie Mayo

• Kosher Salt

• fresh-cracked black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add all ingredients and combine. Adjust flavor with additional salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Adding more tuna will help you create a thicker sauce, if desired.

2. The flavor in this sauce can be easily adjusted based on your preference. I love a highly seasoned, acidic and garlicky tonnato sauce. Bump up the amount of capers/lemon/garlic for a super flavorful sauce that can be used in small quantities,

RECIPE NOTES:

• Green asparagus can also be prepared in this way. If you go that route, no need to peel the asparagus, just trim the bottom 1-2" inches or so and cut back on the poaching time by half.