Seasonal local food recipe No.227 – Yotam’s baked asparagus with parmesan and poppy seeds
This makes a lovely dish for a special occasion. It’s from chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s weekly series in the Guardian. You’ll need thick asparagus stems – like the Cornish asparagus we all had in last week’s vegetable boxes.
Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 18 minutes
Ingredients
2 large (24cm x 48cm) sheets filo pastry
2-3 tbsp olive oil
16 thick stemmed asparagus spears, woody stems trimmed
1 egg, whisked
30g parmesan, finely grated
1½ tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp coarse sea salt
Method
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Put both sheets of filo on top of each other and cut widthways across the middle. Arrange the filo into one pile, then cut the pile into four squares so you end up with 16 filo pastry squares in total.
You will now need to work fast, otherwise the filo will dry out. Lay one filo square on a work surface and brush with plenty of olive oil. Place one asparagus spear at the bottom edge of each square, with the florets exposed, then roll in the pastry to wrap up securely – you’re aiming for a cigar shape with the asparagus head sticking out. Brush each asparagus parcel with egg and sprinkle over some parmesan, poppy seeds and salt. Place the parcel on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, and repeat with the remaining filo and asparagus.
Bake for 18 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and the asparagus cooked through. Serve warm or at room temperature.
