It is the season for white asparagus in the Netherlands. The classic way to serve them is with boiled ham, eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. Three years ago at Michelin starred restaurant De Juwelier they served asparagus with prosciutto and a sage mousseline sauce. The asparagus were slightly charred and the combination worked very well. Giving the asparagus more flavor by charring them enables the substitution of the classic boiled ham with prosciutto, and the combination of prosciutto and sage is classic.

I like to create simplified versions of Michelin starred dishes by making them as simple as possible while maintaining the key idea of the recipe. I also like to use all of the flavor from the ingredients. And so I decided to make a beurre blanc sauce flavored by the peels and ends of the asparagus, as well as the fat from the prosciutto. I cooked the asparagus sous vide to retain as much of their delicate sweet flavor as possible, and then sautéed them as well as the sage in fat rendered from the prosciutto, serving the crackling bits (called chicharrones in Spain or ciccioli in Italy) as a crispy garnish. Beurre Blanc is very similar to Hollandaise; the difference is that Hollandaise uses an egg yolk to bind the sauce, whereas Beurre Blanc gets its thickness from making an emulsion by whisking cold pieces of butter into the liquid, without adding a binding agent.

I took this dish to the next level by using some leftover Jamón Ibérico Bellota Gran Reserva (also known as Pata Negra). This is ham from the prized Spanish pigs with black feet that are fattened on a diet of acorns; the ham itself is aged for multiple years to develop a deep and sweet flavor with a lot of umami. Inspired by the Spanish origin of the ham, I decided to pair it with a premium white Rioja, and the result was very complex and balanced for relatively little effort and a very limited number of ingredients.

Ingredients

For 2 large, 4 medium, or 8 small servings

• 8 white asparagus
• 8 thin slices of prosciutto
• 45 grams (3 Tbsp) of minced prosciutto fat, divided
• 16 sage leaves
• 115 grams (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter
• salt
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) dry white wine

Instructions

Trim away 45 grams of prosciutto fat and chop it. Use 15 grams for the stock and 30 grams to render for sautéing.

Remove 1 cm (1/2 inch) of the end of 8 asparagus and peel the asparagus. Place the peels and ends in a pan and barely cover with water. Add 15 grams of the prosciutto fat. Cover and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes only.

Season the asparagus with a bit of salt, just enough to enhance the flavor of the asparagus, but taking into account that the prosciutto will provide salt as well. Vacuum seal them, and cook them sous vide for 30 minutes at 85C/185F. If you like the asparagus crunchy, you could lower the cooking time to 20 minutes.

When the asparagus stock has simmered for 15 minutes…

…strain the stock through a fine sieve.

Place the solids on an old but clean tea towel, wrap it around the solids like a candy wrapper, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible by twisting the ends in opposite directions. Add the squeezed-out liquid to the stock and discard the remaining solids.

When the asparagus have been cooked sous vide, chill them by submering the bag in cold water. Open the bag and add the liquid from the bag to the asparagus stock.

Render the fat from the remaining 30 grams of prosciutto fat over medium heat in a frying pan that is large enough to hold the asparagus in a single layer.

Keep going until the crackling is golden brown and crispy, then transfer the crackling bits to a plate with a slotted spoon, and reserve.

Dry the asparagus on all sides with paper towels to facilitate charring them without overcooking them.

Pour 60 ml of dry white wine in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and simmer until reduced by half. Then add the asparagus stock, bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered until sufficiently reduced. If you like a thick beurre blanc you’d have to reduce to as little as 3-4 tablespoons, but this may make the flavor too strong.

Sauté the asparagus in the rendered prosciutto fat until golden brown and slightly charred on all sides.

Place the charred asparagus on preheated plates. Add 16 leaves of sage and sauté them briefly over medium heat on both side until lightly browned and crispy, then turn off the heat.

Deglaze the pan with the asparagus stock, scraping with a wooden spatula, and then return it to the saucepan, to include all of the flavor in the sauce.

To finish the sauce, turn off the heat, and whisk in 115 grams of cold butter, adding only some small pieces at a time. If you want the sauce to be really thick and creamy, you may have to use twice as much butter. The temperature of the sauce should be around 50C/122F to remain stable.

Place a slice of prosciutto on each asparagus. Spoon some sauce over and garnish with crispy sage leaves and the bits of crackling.

Wine pairing

This is great with a complex and structured buttery wine, such as a high-end white Burguny like Meursault, a white Rioja Gran Reserva, or an Italian white aged in oak like some Verdicchio.