White Asparagus with Béchamel

Asparagus season is my springtime highlight! Unlike in the UK, where green asparagus are the norm, most people in Luxembourg prefer white asparagus. But did you know that they are in fact exactly the same plant?

An asparagus can turn green or white depending on how it is grown. When the spears pop out of the ground, they turn green, so in Luxembourg, farmers keep covering the asparagus with soil as they grow upwards, so that they stay white! White asparagus are more delicate in taste than their green siblings, and they need to be peeled, as the skin is quite tough and stringy.

Traditionally, asparagus are served with a Hollandaise sauce, but at home, my mum would always dish up asparagus with a béchamel sauce instead. I was quite surprised when I found out that this is a fairly ‘lowfat’ béchamel, as most of the liquid is asparagus cooking water, and not cream, as I always thought it was!

Ingredients

500g white asparagus
600g potatoes
¼ tsp sugar
80g butter
50g ﬂour
100ml cream
a pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper
chopped parsley, to serve

Method

Serves 2 • Prep 1h • Easy • Vegetarian

Peel the asparagus and trim off the ends.

Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Put into a saucepan with salted water, cover and bring to the boil. Cook for approximately 15 minutes until done. Drain the potatoes, toss in the saucepan with 20g of butter and put on a serving plate.

While the potatoes are boiling, put the asparagus into a saucepan with boiling salted water and the sugar, cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes, until cooked through. Once done, remove 500ml of cooking liquid for the béchamel and leave the asparagus in the saucepan in the remaining hot water.

Make the béchamel just before serving: Melt the remaining 60g butter in a saucepan, add the ﬂour and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until the ﬂour/butter mix starts to turn golden and fragrant.

Gradually add 500ml of the asparagus water, whisking between each addition and leaving it to cook for a minute or so, so that it thickens and you get a smooth sauce.

Then gradually add the cream. Once you have a smooth sauce, season with a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper.

Serve the asparagus and potatoes smothered in béchamel and sprinkled with parsley.