Artichoke & Wild Asparagus with Green Garlic Sauce
'Láminas de alcachofas y espárragos trigueros con salsa 'al ajo verde''
Springtime is a good time of the year to prepare any recipes with artichokes and wild or cultivated green asparagus. Here I have chosen to share a special sauce, Ajo Verde, that brings an extra dimension to vegetables, grilled meat or fish dishes.
Serves
4
Ingredients
- 1 lemon, for squeezing
- 8 medium artichokes
- 20 thin green asparagus spears
- For The Ajo Verde Sauce
- 1 egg white
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 20g finely snipped chives
- 30g pistachio kernels
- freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
- 50g fresh breadcrumbs
- 10g freshly chopped parsley leaves
- 200ml Spanish extra virgin olive oil
- fine sea salt and ground white pepper, to season
Method
Fill a medium bowl with plenty of fresh water and add a few squeezes of lemon juice.
Remove the stalks and outer leaves from the artichokes. Use a spoon to remove the fibrous centre of the artichokes to avoid darkening and place them in the lemon water. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, bring plenty of water to the boil, add a little lemon juice and salt. To maintain the temperature of the water, add the artichokes one by one. Cook them all together until tender. Remove from the heat and let them cool down in the liquid.
Cook the asparagus in a saucepan of salted boiling water. Do not overcook as it should retain a little bite. Set aside and leave to cool.
Prepare the Ajo Verde in an electric blender. Add the egg white, then the garlic, chives, pistachio kernels, lemon juice, breadcrumbs, parsley, 120ml water and some salt and white pepper. With the machine running, start adding the olive oil, little by little, until the sauce becomes very glossy and is neither too thin nor too thick.
Before serving, gently pat the artichokes and the asparagus dry and carefully slice the artichokes, not too thin. Serve in a flat dish with the Ajo Verde sauce spooned over the top.
