Simple Blanched Asparagus Drizzled with Olive Oil

Simple Blanched Asparagus Drizzled with Olive Oil
Simple Blanched Asparagus Drizzled with Olive Oil

You’ll be amazed by how much flavor a fresh olive oil gives a dish! Chiquitita olive oil from Portugal is constantly winning over our customers, even though each vintage changes just a little. This oil is typically buttery, delicate and floral — it’s almost as if you’re smelling roses. It’s evenly balanced with notes of green almond and has a mildly warming finish.

Asparagus is best eaten soon after it’s picked, that’s because the natural sugars start to convert to starch as soon as the stalk is plucked. Check out some of our other produce tips for asparagus to learn more!

Simple Blanched Asparagus Drizzled with Olive Oil

Simple Blanched Asparagus with Fresh Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blanching is adding a vegetable to boiling water or broth for a few minutes so it softens but remains crisp. Seasoning blanched asparagus with salt and pepper then finishing it with a drizzle of our just-pressed, new crop, extra virgin olive oil makes for a fantastically flavorful, healthy and easy side dish. Serves 2 to 4.
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch of asparagus woody ends snapped or sliced off
  • 1 Tbsp salt for the water
  • Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Sigona’s Fresh Press Extra Virgin Olive Oil such as Chiquitita or Lecciana, both from Portugal, see note

Instructions
 

  • Bring about 3 inches of salted water to a boil in a medium pan. Once boiling, add the asparagus. Cook about 2 to 4 minutes depending on thickness of the spears. Remove with tongs, pat dry. Season with salt & pepper, then finish with a drizzle of olive oil, about 1 to 2 tablespoons.

Notes

We purchase olive oil seasonally because fresh is best! Olives grown in the Northern Hemisphere are harvested and pressed around November and the oils are typically available in late December and through the early part of the new year. Olives grown in the Southern Hemisphere are harvested and pressed around June, making the oils available to us in the late summer months, if not earlier. 
You can always sample and purchase olive oils in our markets, and most are available online when they’re in season. 
Northern Hemisphere Olive Oils
Keyword asparagus, Northern Hemisphere Olive Oil
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