Esparragos con jamón | Green asparagus with Spanish ham
When asparagus are in season, it’s a big event every year. Every one promotes them with pride, whether in the supermarket shelves or high up on the restaurant’s menus. It is a very special veggie to me, I love it’s flavour and versatility, it just goes well with so many other foods. In Spain it’s very common to find them serve with ham, simple and delicious.
INGREDIENTS
1 bunch green asparagus
a drizzle of olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 slices serrano ham, chopped
a pinch of sea salt
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 shot dry sherry wine
Preparation
Snap off the hard ends of the asparagus and blanch the speers for 2 minutes in a pan of boiling hot water. Depending on the thickness of the asparagus you may need a bit longer to get them cooked.
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the garlic and ham until the garlic is golden. Add the blanched asparagus, season with salt and pepper and sauté for 30 seconds, then flambé with the dry sherry wine. To do this, slowly tilt the pan towards the flame until the wine catches, or light with a match.
Let the flames flare up then die down. Serve with a slice of serrano ham.
