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Boiled Asparagus

A simple boiled asparagus dish served on toast with melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Boiled Asparagus

Boiled Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Scrape the white part of the asparagus stems, starting from the head.

  2. Place the scraped stems in cold water.

  3. Tie the asparagus into bundles of about 20. Keep the heads aligned and cut the stalks evenly.

Boil

  1. Bring the salted water to a boil and add the asparagus bundles.

  2. Boil uncovered until tender, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Serve

  1. Dish the asparagus on toast dipped in the cooking water, with the white ends facing outwards and the points meeting in the middle.

  2. Serve with melted butter.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
The main vegetable; boiling softens its fibrous stalks while the tender tips keep their texture.
Butter (in the method)
Melted butter adds richness and fat to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Boil uncovered until tender. Asparagus turns from crisp to mushy within minutes, so timing matters. Checking tenderness near the lower end of the time range helps keep the stalks firm yet cooked through.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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