Asparagus from the oven – ideal for guests
Ingredients :
2 kg asparagus,
4 teaspoons white butter,
2 teaspoons sugar (brown cane sugar is best, but normal can also be used)
salt
preparation :
Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes.
The asparagus cooks in its own juice, giving it a wonderfully full flavor. If you compare cooked with it, the cooked is almost bland. Since I tried this here, none of us likes the asparagus prepared differently.
It is best not to use sticks that are too thick, I prefer sticks that are 1 – 1.5 cm thick. They are nice and tender and there is little waste. First peel the asparagus thoroughly and cut off the ends. Preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat or 180 °C for a fan.
Place two sheets of aluminum foil on top of each other (alternatives to aluminum foil are at the end of the recipe description) and put half a teaspoon of butter on each. 8 – 10 spears of asparagus (depending on the thickness of the asparagus, the packages should not be too big, otherwise they will not cook so well, it is better to make several – if necessary, they will keep warm more easily) on top. Sprinkle each bundle with half a teaspoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt, then seal the first sheet of foil over the top and the sides too – don’t wrap a tight packet, fold over like a bag. Then close the second bow in the same way.
Place on the rack in the oven and wait 40-50 minutes. You can test whether the asparagus is done by bending a packet a little, the easier it is, the softer the asparagus is.
For huge portions: take a high fat pan from the oven, brush lightly with butter, spread the asparagus on it, spread 2 teaspoons of butter, one teaspoon of sugar and a good pinch of salt per kilo, cover the fat pan with aluminum foil (must be really tight) and into the oven preheated to 200 °C (convection 180 °C) for approx. 50 minutes (cost more than 40 minutes, the asparagus needs more or less time depending on the thickness).
We also have nut butter (brown butter, has nothing to do with nuts!) and new potatoes.
Since the comments kept asking about alternatives to aluminum foil and other options were also mentioned, here are the suggestions (inserted on June 6th, 2018) on how to do it:
Alternatives to aluminum foil:
– Shallow casserole dish with lid – if it is too high, the asparagus will dry out
– Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil instead of wrapping the asparagus in it so that it doesn’t come into contact with the foil
– Close the casserole dish with baking paper and uncoated floral wire or kitchen twine
– Cook in the roasting tube or roasting bag
– Cook in papillotes made of parchment paper
– in the soaked Roman pot – takes about 10 minutes longer because it is placed in the cold oven
– Ovenproof pan with lid.
