We will never cease to underline the importance of the nutritional intake and above all of the nutraceutical benefits of some vegetables which are considered more for their tasty and pleasant flavor than for their important healthy contents. And among these, asparagus occupies a leading place.
Let's start with their use in the kitchen: green asparagus in Italy are often served by sautéing them in a pan after boiling them, simply with butter or butter and parmesan ("asparagus alla parmigiana") or accompanied by buttered eggs and grated or hard-boiled cheese. However, they are commonly used to prepare risottos, soups, mousses or veloutés. In France and Germany it is typical to serve white asparagus with hollandaise sauce. Alternatively they can be served with vinaigrette, white butter sauce, Maltese sauce, Bolzanina sauce, melted butter, or a drizzle of olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano. But they are also used for more elaborate preparations: sautéed with mushrooms and served as an accompaniment to guinea fowl. In Chinese restaurants you can enjoy fried asparagus paired with chicken, prawns or beef.
Few people know that asparagus belongs to the same family as garlic and onion, sharing some positive properties with them (thanks to the diuretic effect they are an adjuvant against gout, kidney stones, rheumatism and edema) and have an active role in reducing cases of eczema. Going more specifically, this vegetable contains abundant Asparagine, one of the fundamental amino acids for protein synthesis. Furthermore, they are rich in rutin which serves to strengthen the walls of the capillaries as well as manganese and vitamin A which have a beneficial effect on the ligaments, kidneys and skin and, again, phosphorus and vitamin B which help combat asthenia, of Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium and Sodium.
Many traditional medicines use asparagus against water retention and irritable bowel syndrome. In fact, they stimulate diuresis and provide fiber that promotes the regular functioning of the intestine and reduces the risk of colon cancer. Furthermore, fibers help keep cholesterol and blood sugar levels under control but above all they are an important source of antioxidants which help reduce the risk of developing tumors and neurodegenerative disorders and fight infections.
Having said this, we reiterate the concept that asparagus can well aspire to a fine dining role in the kitchen, as demonstrated by the interesting proposal of the Trout Triptych by chef Roberto Tonola, member of the JRE, Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe, a Michelin star with the restaurant of La Lanterna Verde family of Villa di Chiavenna which has made sustainability and territoriality its element of distinction for several years now. In this place, local products, trout, chestnut flour from the family's chestnut grove, mountain herbs, milk, cheeses, eggs, meats and cured meats from small local companies are the basis of a cuisine that knows how to pamper the customer, as the Michelin Guide writes, managing "in any season to keep traditional and more contemporary recipes in balance, winking at territoriality and lake fish in particular" and which has also managed to win the Green Star having shown remarkable sensitivity to environmental issues, taking a great interest in the production of electricity and its related environmental impact.
“The triptych – explains Roberto Tonola – is a historic dish of my restaurant, probably the most representative of all. In fact, the Green Lantern has the distinctive characteristic of being born from a family trout farm, a farm that is still present in a restricted form to guarantee the product is always fresh in my kitchen". The trout, which has been on the menu for many years, is presented in three different preparations: raw, marinated and cooked. “In recent years I wanted to give a touch of freshness to what were three classic preparations, I transformed them into three seasonal vegetables. every season the vegetables change so the combinations with the fish. This summarizes my cooking philosophy which is based on the history and ingredients of my land re-proposed in a modern and imaginative way."
The recipe for the Trout Triptych
Ingredients:
asparagus
pod of broad beans and peas
radish
1 trout weighing 250 gr
White wine
vinegar
laurel
White pepper
1 lemon
3 g peach glue
200 cream
4 white asparagus
Kappa rubber
trout caviar
A 300g fillet of salmon trout
Fave
peas
Pea puree
Isomalt sugar
Cornstarch
A 300g fillet of salmon trout
Beetroot extract
Wild herbs
Procedure:
Asparagus:
Boil the whole trout in a large pot of water, white wine, vinegar, bay leaves, white pepper and salt for ten minutes. Drain the fish and clean it while hot. Blend the pulp obtained with part of the cooking stock and the lemon juice. Bind the cream obtained with isinglass. Cook the white asparagus and dice them. Add the cubes to the trout cream and incorporate the whipped cream. Pour the mousse obtained into an asparagus-shaped mold and freeze. Prepare a jelly with a cream of white asparagus and Kappa. Dip the mousse asparagus into the hot gelatin to coat. Leave to thaw.
Broad bean pod:
make a trout tartare with a knife. Season with fresh broad beans and peas. Spread the tartare in a broad bean-shaped mold and freeze. Make a jelly of pea puree and Kappa and cover the trout beans.
Make a mixture of pea puree, isomalt sugar and cornstarch. spread it on silicone sheets recreating the shape of a pod. Cook in a fan oven at 120°C for 17 minutes. Cool the pods by placing them on steel tubes to curve them.
Radish:
marinate the salmon trout fillet with salt and beetroot juice for 6 hours. Roll the fillet and create a cylinder. Cut the cylinder into 2 cm high slices.
Welcome
Place the trout asparagus on a flat plate off-center to the left. Place 4 heaps of trout caviar on top of the asparagus. Place the cylinder of marinated trout in the center of the plate. Decorate it with slices of radish and wild herbs. On the right, place a pod, place three beans of trout tartare on top and cover with a second pod
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fcasv6rheZxyHnbW9
