White Asparagus Grilled (last asparagus recipe, honest!)

This is the last asparagus recipe this year, but I am including it despite the asparagus bias in the last few weeks. Two reasons: one, my sister lives in Northern Germany and apart from her many talents, she is also into food and, being in an asparagus-growing, she is well placed to supply the stuff fresh out of the ground when she comes to Switzerland, which she did last week, the asparagus kept so fresh by being wrapped in a wet linen cloth. The second reason: I had dinner with a journalist in Geneva – no, I am not dropping any names – and she mentioned how she had been served asparagus in Northern Italy. This is a development of her description, really easy, really fast…

So, one last time: asparagus.

What you need

• 1 kg fresh (white) asparagus peeled and with the woody bits trimmed off
• 50 g butter cut into small slivers
• salt and pepper to season
• 1 sprig of fresh tarragon, chopped
• 50-100 ml dry sherry
• freshly grated parmesan

What you do

1. Lay out the asparagus in an oven-proof dish, ideally one layer deep.
2. Spread the slivers of butter evenly over the asparagus and season with salt and pepper.
3. Drizzle with the sherry, sprinkle with tarragon and cover with a dusting of grated parmesan.
4. Put under the hot grill and check after about 10 minutes for the consistency of the asparagus (al dente or soft). If the cheese gets too dark, cover with silver foil.