The Accidental Locavore tried a recipe for asparagus fries (that aren’t even fried) to mixed results recently. Here’s the recipe adapted from spoonforkbacon and I’d love to know what you think. The prep time is a little long, depending on how many you’re doing, however it’s easy (but messy). Try to use one hand for the dredging and dipping and keep the other clean and dry for other tasks. From start to finish it will take less than an hour and feeds 4.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1lb asparagus, washed and cut in 4″ pieces
- 3/4 cups flour
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt and pepper to taste
- olive oil
Directions
 Step 1 |
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| Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, salt and pepper together in a shallow bowl. Place flour in another shallow bowl. Place beaten eggs in a third shallow bowl. Dredge the asparagus spears in flour and shake off excess (not much flour will stick, but that’s okay). Dip in egg and then in panko mix. Make sure spears are thoroughly coated with crumbs. Place on cookie sheet. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. | |
| Step 2 | |
| Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy! | |
The verdict: Frank really liked them and thought they’d be a great hors d’oeuvre with a dipping sauce. Try mayo thinned out with a little lemon and some cumin. This time of year asparagus are so good, I’d rather (toss them in olive oil or mayo and) grill them. However, if you’re serving some fussy eaters, this is a good way of sneaking a veg in. What do you think?
wow! whether one loves plain asparagus or not (and they’re one of my faves), this idea sounds fan-bloody-tastic! tomorrow is farmers’ market, and we have all of the other ingredients, and i can’t wait to experiment……will let you know.