After all the stews, stews and casseroles, the spring sun almost begs you for a lighter dish. Luckily, there is your ideal spring friend: the asparagus. You can do anything with asparagus: you can boil them, use them in an oven dish or puree them into a creamy soup. And because of all these variations, you can conjure up the most delicious meals throughout the season.

Everything starts with the asparagus plant

The young asparagus plant is a real go-getter. In fact, what starts with a seed that grows into a plant has to work hard for two more years before tasty stalks start growing that - once fully grown - we know as asparagus. That long wait is rewarded with about 10 to 15 asparagus per season. After that, there can be another annual harvest. That happens from early April and is a fairly monk's work because the harvesting is done manually. Three months later, at the end of June, the asparagus season ends so that the asparagus plants can regain new energy for the following year.

Difference white asparagus and green asparagus

By the way, we are only talking about the white asparagus above. Its two brothers are green and purple and both grow above ground.... Moreover, green and purple asparagus do not need to be peeled. Just taking off the bottom piece is enough. Both green and purple asparagus are not easily seen in a saucepan. Green asparagus are delicious when grilled briefly and are regularly found on menus as a topping on flammkuchen or in a savory pie. Purple asparagus is a lot sweeter and a welcome guest in salads: just raw!

How do you prepare white asparagus?

This asparagus is also called "the white gold. This designation undoubtedly has to do with its divinely mild flavor and fine texture. Therefore, such a royal vegetable cannot do without a lot of attention and love in its preparation.

To begin, surround fresh asparagus with moisture after purchase. Wet a tea towel, wring it out well and fold the towel around the asparagus. This way you can keep the asparagus in the refrigerator without losing flavor. And then the preparation. Before cooking the asparagus, peel off the outer layer with a peeler. If you don't have a peeler at home, a cheese slicer also works fine. You leave the head of an asparagus untouched, so put your peeler underneath only on the stem. Once peeled, cut 2 inches off the bottom. Peeling carefully and removing the butt is very important because otherwise you will end up with stringy, hard-to-cut asparagus. And we don't want that, of course.

Meanwhile, bring a pan with plenty of water to a boil and add a little salt if necessary. You have special asparagus pans in which the asparagus can stand upright. Don't have those? No problem. A spacious saucepan in which they can lie flat will also do. Add the asparagus and cook for 4-5 minutes Then turn off the heat and leave the pan with the lid on for another 20 minutes. The asparagus are now ready. You can check this by pressing the end of an asparagus. Does this work? Then carefully remove the asparagus from the pan with a slotted spoon so the heads don't break off and serve 4 or 5 per person.

Don't forget! Make soup from the leftovers

As you can read above, remove the asparagus from the pan with a slotted spoon. It's best not to drain asparagus to prevent the heads from breaking off. But there's another good reason: You can easily make a delicious asparagus soup from the peels and hard ends of the asparagus and the cooking liquid. Numerous delicious soup recipes can be found online.

What do you eat with asparagus?

The traditional asparagus recipe is tradition for a reason. No doubt it has something to do with the different textures that take this dish to a high level. The side dishes don't require any higher culinary skills from you, either, and you can make them just fine while the asparagus is cooking in its 20-minute hot bath.

Here's how it works.

Fry some baby potatoes until light brown shiny. Meanwhile, boil one egg per person soft to semi-soft and make the sauce. Hollandaise sauce and asparagus go very well together. Then cut a few slices of ham on the bone into strips. When asparagus, potatoes, egg and sauce are ready, start by placing the asparagus side by side on a plate. Drape a few slices of ham on the bone next to the asparagus, add a ladle full of potatoes and an egg cut in half, and pour the sauce over the top. And? Delicious right?