Fregola with Asparagus and Mushrooms

A recipe with asparagus in the starring role, but not as you’re used to. The white gold is combined with special ingredients such as fregola (a pasta in the shape of small balls, from Sardinia) and mushrooms, including porcini and the beautiful king bolete.

Porcini jus

Place the 15 g dried porcini in 500 ml warm water and leave to soak for an hour. Then strain the porcini through a coffee filter, so that no grains of sand come along. Reserve the mushroom liquid, wash the mushrooms once more thoroughly under the tap and then dry them in a tea towel. Cut them into small cubes and set aside. Cut one shallot and a garlic clove into cubes and sauté with some butter. Then pour in the mushroom liquid and reduce by half. Add salt to taste.

Parsley oil

Put the parsley in the blender with 150 ml olive oil and a pinch of salt, and blend for 8–10 minutes, until the oil is a beautiful green. Strain it through a tea strainer and reserve the oil.

The asparagus

Peel the asparagus and cut approximately 3 cm off the bottom; do not throw it away. Cut the rest of the asparagus into equal pieces and slice them crosswise. Place the peels and bottoms in a pan with some olive oil, then add 200 ml cream, two finely chopped sage leaves and some salt. When the asparagus pieces are cooked, put everything in the blender and pass it through a sieve. Use this liquid to cook the asparagus over low heat.

Cut the hazelnuts in half and roast them in the pan. Slice the king bolete lengthwise into thin slices and then cut them in half again. Put them in a searing-hot pan with the finely chopped porcini and a finely chopped shallot. As soon as the king bolete develops some brown edges, add butter and/or olive oil and finish with salt and pepper.

Cook the fregola according to the instructions on the package. Sauté a shallot and garlic clove in the pan and stir in the fregola.

Plating

Place the fregola on the plate and pour the warm porcini jus over it. Add the mushrooms, asparagus, hazelnuts and some turnip greens (a beautiful substitute for that eternal arugula), then drizzle the dish with the parsley oil.

Recipe: Naresh Ramdjas
Photography: Naresh Ramdjas