Finish Your Spring Vegetables With These 3 Ingredients
My parents love asparagus, their favorite green vegetable. During my last visit to them in Sacramento, I was assigned to prepare it. I made it simple: a quick fry in olive oil with salt, and then a dash of lemon juice. “Asparagus is delicious,” my stepfather said. “I like lemon.” (While it may not seem like it, Greg enthusiastically supported it.)
My stepfather has never come across a combination of spring green vegetables and lemon before, which is too bad, because almost everything is better with a little acid, and lemon juice is especially good with spring vegetables – it is bright and juicy, with floral notes, that complement those grassy, green scents.
If you don’t do anything else with your roasted spring vegetables – asparagus, sugar peas, ramps, fiddleheads – add some fresh lemon juice to them as soon as they come out of the pot. (Adding a lemon directly to the pan can cook up the juice, dimming its brightness.) However, if you really want to knock it out of the kitchen, include parmesan and pepper.
Cheese and pepper, known as ” cacio e pepe ” to Italians, are a terrific pairing in their own right. Add lemon juice and you can taste the salt, acidity, spiciness and umami in one bite. And this is in addition to the fresh, slightly bitter, elastic base taste of your vegetable.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is an obvious and excellent choice for cheese, but pecorino will be no less delicious. Aged gouda will also rock. You can rub cheese on the asparagus while it’s still in the pot – the parts that make up the contents will turn into delicious frico pieces – or you can add it after the asparagus has come off the heat, creating a cloud of fluffy white cheese.
Grind peppers fresh for the hottest and spiciest flavor, and don’t be afraid to branch out and explore the pepper rainbow .
To sum it up: cook the vegetables as usual. I think hot and fast is what you want – you just want it to be bright green and tenderly crunchy. Add the cheese to the pan if you want crispy bits, then squeeze a lemon onto a plate and chop the peppers. If you want the cheese to be fluffy rather than crispy, remove the asparagus from the pan, squeeze the lemon, then grate the cheese on top and grate the peppers. Eat immediately because why wait?