A ragoo of asparagus is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic accompaniment of asparagus, endive and lettuce served in a meat stock base thickened with roux. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: A ragoo of asparagus.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
A ragoo of aſparagus
SCRAPE a hundred of graſs very clean, and throw it into cold water. When you have ſcraped all, cut as far as is good and green, about an inch long, and take two heads of endive clean waſhed and picked, cut it very ſmall, a young lettuce clean waſhed and cut ſmall, a large onion peeled and cut ſmall ; put a quarter of pound of butter into ſtew-pan, when it is melted throw in the above things : toſs them about, and fry them ten minutes ; then ſeaſon them with a little pepper and ſalt, ſhake in a little flour, toſs them about, then pour in half a pint of gravy. Let them ſtew till the ſauce is very thick and good ; then pour all into your diſh. Save a few of the little tops of the graſs to garniſh the diſh.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
50 asparagus spears, scraped if old
1 endive, washed and finely shredded
1 young lettuce, washed and finely shredded
1/2 large onion, finely sliced
60g butter
freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp plain flour
300ml strong meat stock
Method:
Trim the asparagus, scrape them if old then soak for 10 minutes in a bowl of cold water. Cut off about 10 tips to save as garnish then cut the asparagus into 5cm lengths.
Melt the butter in a pan and when hot add the asparagus pieces, endive, lettuce and onion. Fry for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally then season with black pepper to taste. Scatter over the flour and mix to form a roux then beat in the meat stock until smooth.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce is nicely thickened. Turn into a serving dish, garnish with the reserved asparagus heads and bring to the table.
