The only ingredients needed are: 1 lb. asparagus, 1/4 cup (30 g) chopped almonds, one tablespoon (15 g) butter, salt, and pepper (and cayenne pepper, if desired). Wash and clean the asparagus, breaking off the hard fibrous parts of the stems, if necessary. If the almonds haven't been chopped up, then finely chop the almonds.
Melt 1 Tbs. butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. The pan should be large enough to hold all the asparagus later.
Once the butter has melted, cook the almonds in the butter until the butter and almonds have browned.
If some spiciness is desired, add a little (or a lot) of cayenne powder as desired and stir it into the butter and almonds.
Add the asparagus to the sauté pan. Season with salt and pepper. Then toss to coat with butter and almonds. Actually, you probably don't want to actually toss (or use the saute motion) as a mess will probably result. Just use a large silicone spatula or a wooden spoon and move the asparagus around while scooping the butter almonds up on top.
The asparagus can then be cooked in the pan as long as you keep the asparagus spears moving. This takes about 6 to 8 minutes. The best way to check if they are done is to take a little bite of one of the spears. The asparagus should be crisp but without a raw taste. An alternative method is to pour a little water (1 to 2 Tbs.) into the pan and to cover and let it steam for two minutes. Then uncover and let the water evaporate while sautéing.Asparagus with Almonds (serves four)
| 1 lb. (450 g) asparagus | sauté until tender | |||
| 1 Tbs. butter | melt | brown | add | |
| 1/4 cup chopped almonds | ||||
| a dash (1/16 tsp. or 0.1 g) cayenne pepper | ||||
| salt | ||||
| pepper | ||||