Baked Asparagus with Apple-and-Red-Wine Sauce

Weekend at the parents - how are we going to get our necessary asparagus ration? Simple, we bring the ingredients and I rummage in my recipe fund. One of our classics should do the trick, it’s an old e&t recipe that over the years has jelled to the point that it’s quick and works well. And the sauce is a stunner! Unfortunately not on the photo, it is wine red and a bit creamy and very tasty without taking away the flavor of the asparagus.

The recipe, this time for 4 people:

• 2 kg asparagus, peeled
• 1 kg of potatoes, peeled

I cook the asparagus in the roaster for 10 minutes, even the heads must be cooked in this recipe and not just steamed, otherwise they will stick to the tray later. I store the spears in the roaster lid until they have cooled a bit.

While his happens, I can make the sauce.

• 2 small red onions, cut into small pieces.
• 1 tart apple, peeled and cut into small pieces
• 4 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 150 ml red wine
• 200 ml vegetable broth

I saute the onions in a little oil and let them caramelize with the sugar. Then the apple is added, followed shortly by red wine and broth. The mixture cooks on low heat until soft. Later I will puree it.

Now I wrap the asparagus in pairs (for thick spears) or threes (for thinner ones) in a not too thin slice of raw ham. This time I had

• 15 large slices of San Daniele ham
• 8 smaller slices of beef ham.

I usually only make this recipe with pork ham. Since my mom can’t eat pork, the beef ham comes in handy. Smaller slices also work if you overlap them a bit, roll up the asparagus and then tie with chives that you have blanched for a few seconds.

Now I can put the potatoes on and put the asparagus in the oven (15 minutes at 200° convection, on two greased trays). I cover the places with the ham with some aluminum foil, so that the ham does not dry out too much. Pin the foil down well, or it will fly off!

The potatoes are done in 15 minutes, I quickly mash them and add

• 125 g of room-warm butter

until the mash is creamy. I sprinkle a little chives on top for good measure. The asparagus is super juicy without being watery and a little toasted in places. We eat it all and are happy about the successful combination.

smoked ham wrapped around a bundle of asparagus, red wine sauce, mashed potatoes