The (white) asparagus season is very short. They are only available during spring. And therefore you need every occasion to enjoy them. But how to make them differently all the time? And that's where asparagus with confit Chorizo comes in - a surprising and delicious alternative. The added bonus? You can repurpose the leftover Chorizo oil in other dishes. We'll delve further into confit later in this article.
Asparagus with confit Chorizo
Ingredients
- 500 grams asparagus
- 50 grams Chorizo sausage
- 2 dl olive oil
- 25 grams arugula salad
- 50 grams grated Parmesan
Instructions
Making confit Chorizo
- Slice the Chorizo sausage into thin slices.
- Heat olive oil over low heat. The temperature should be between 50°C and 80°C (122°F to 176°F).
- Let the Chorizo cook in the oil for about 1.5 hours without frying. The oil will turn deep red.
Cooking the asparagus
- Peel the asparagus and trim the woody bottom.
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
- Cook the asparagus for about ten minutes until tender.
Finishing the asparagus with confit Chorizo
- Remove the confit Chorizo from the deep red oil and let it drain.
- Arrange arugula on large plates.
- Place the asparagus on the arugula bed.
- Top with slices of confit Chorizo and grated Parmesan.
- Drizzle two tablespoons of the Chorizo oil over the plate.
- Serve as is or with a piece of baguette. Enjoy your meal!
Nutrition
How to make asparagus with confit Chorizo?
Asparagus with confit chorizo is actually a very simple dish. However, you need to allocate some time for it because confit is essentially a form of slow cooking. Let's delve into the details in this article.
Making the confit Chorizo
We'll start by confitting the Chorizo. To do this, begin by gently heating the olive oil over very low heat. The Chorizo should not boil or fry, so the olive oil should be somewhere between 40°C and 80°C (104°F to 176°F).
While the olive oil reaches the desired temperature, slice the Chorizo into thin slices. Add these slices to the oil, ensuring they are completely submerged. If necessary, add a bit more olive oil.
Allow the Chorizo slices to slowly cook in the oil. This will gradually turn a deep red color due to the natural pigments released by the Chorizo. Regularly check to ensure the Chorizo doesn't start frying.
Preparing the asparagus
After the Chorizo has been slow cooking in the oil for about an hour, we can start preparing the asparagus.
Peel the Asparagus: Begin by peeling the asparagus and trimming off the tough lower ends. These ends are often woody in texture.
Boil the Asparagus: Bring water to a boil in a large pot or pan. Add the peeled asparagus and cook them for approximately ten minutes. The cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the asparagus. After boiling, remove the asparagus from the water and let them drain.
Serving Asparagus with Confit Chorizo
Remove the slices of confit Chorizo from the deep red oil and let them drain well.
Arrange the arugula salad on the plates and place the asparagus on top.
Add a few slices of confit Chorizo on the asparagus.
Finish by adding a few more arugula salad leaves and grated Parmesan.
Now it's time for the deep red Chorizo oil. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the Chorizo oil over and around the asparagus.
Enjoy this dish as a light lunch, perhaps with a piece of fresh baguette. The baguette is perfect for wiping up any remaining Chorizo oil on the plate. Bon appétit!
But what exactly is confit?
Confit is a classic French cooking method that involves slow-cooking ingredients in fat or oil over low heat. The most well-known examples are candied fruit and the famous French dish canard confit.
Confit refers to food that has been preserved by gently poaching it in fat or oil. Originally, it encompassed any preservation method involving slow cooking in any liquid (for example, fruits confited in sugar syrup). However, nowadays, the primary usage in not preservation anymore. It primarily refers to slow-cooking food in fat without necessarily aging or storing it.
To make confit, it is best to use high-quality olive oil with robust flavor. Once you've mastered the basic technique, feel free to experiment with additional seasonings. An added benefit is that you can reuse the oil afterward, as it becomes infused with rich flavors during the process.
Beyond meat, you can also make confit of fish, revealing a new flavor experience. Additionally, slowly confiting vegetables in oil results in softer, more intense, and tastier flavors. Nuts and garlic also lend themselves well to this slow cooking method. Especially noteworthy are the results of confiting garlic-the cloves become more than fantastic, and the oil infused with their flavor is equally delightful.
Lastly, let's not forget about fruit. While we don't confit fruit in oil, we achieve similar results by using syrup. The slow cooking process transforms the texture while preserving the delightful taste.
Read more about the confit method and recipes in the following articles:
- How to confit (Great British chefs).
- Confit - Wikipedia.
- What is confit and how to do it (D'Artagnan).
- Garlic confit (Serious eats).
- Easy tomato confit (Feasting at home).
More surprising.asparagus
As mentioned, asparagus is the spring vegetable par excellence. But you don't always have to make them the Flemish way or with Hollandaise sauce. Here you will find more surprising ideas for preparing asparagus:
- Passionate asparagus.
- Asparago tonnato.
- Fish stew with asparagus.
- Asparagus cordon bleu.
- Asparagus by Belgian law.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
alifemoment says
Nice 🙂