Creamed Asparagus on Toast

A homey, simple creamed asparagus recipe that’s a true winner.

Of all the ways you thought you may enjoy asparagus, this one may surprise you. This easy creamed asparagus is not just something your grandma made. The simple mixture of flour and butter create a roux and cream sauce. Perfectly sauteed mushrooms and crisp-tender asparagus are folded into the creamy sauce. Magic is made when this is served on top of buttered toast along with a hardboiled egg. If you haven’t been lucky enough to try this, you may find it odd. But trust me, soon you’ll love it too.

Everything you’ll need to make this recipe.

Once in a while, if my mom was in a pinch for time, she would use cream of mushroom sauce for the mixture. It was a time-saver, but the flavor that you’ll get from this entirely homemade white sauce will be far superior. Plus, you know each and every ingredient that’s going into your sauce, which is super important when trying to cook as “clean” at home as possible. Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Here’s how to make this recipe.

This sounds like a pretty simple recipe to make and it really is. That said, there are a few specific steps that will make you successful. Here’s how you make creamed asparagus:

• Cook the mushrooms. Use butter and make sure to salt the mushrooms. Cremini mushrooms are brown and some believe they have more flavor, but white button mushrooms will work here also.
• Add in the shallot and asparagus. Compared to onions, shallot has a lighter, almost sweet flavor. Instead of throwing in onion, which will overpower the flavor of asparagus, shallot simply complements the asparagus.
• Steam the asparagus. After the asparagus is added to the skillet, cover it with a lid. Steam will be created, which will cook the asparagus quickly. After about 3-4 minutes, check a piece of asparagus. I like them to be crisp-tender.
• Remove the asparagus and set it aside on a plate. To create the roux in the next step, you need an empty skillet. But do not clean the skillet. The residue from the mushroom and asparagus mixture will flavor the roux.

• Prepare the white sauce. Start with butter. Add the flour and let it cook into the butter for about 30 seconds to a minute, moving the flour around the pan to ensure it doesn’t stick. Make sure the raw flour flavor is cooked out. Next, add in whole-grained mustard. This adds a depth of flavor and a little bit of acidity that can make all the difference. Add room temperature milk in small amounts. If you think the mixture is lumpy, give it time to work together. Right before the mixture is done cooking, add in some Greek yogurt. The Greek yogurt adds a bit of tanginess and offsets some of the richness that’s in the dish. At this point, make sure to add some salt. Since the butter used for the roux was not salted, some salt is needed. Finish up with some freshly cracked black pepper. It may make sense at the very end to switch to a whisk to really make sure things get incorporated.

• Add the asparagus and mushroom mixture to the white sauce. At this point, the “sauce” is done. Taste the sauce and adjust for salt and pepper, if needed. Mix everything together and let the sauce warm together for a few minutes.
• Prepare slices of toasted bread. Use butter and the skillet to prepare the bread. Use a bread that’s a bit crusty and has a bit more substance. This way, there’s a crispy element to the overall dish, which offsets the creamy sauce. It’s a nice interplay between crunch and creamy. If you need a suggestion, sourdough bread works really well here.
• Prepare the plate. Start with a slice of the bread. Add a spoonful of the creamed asparagus and mushroom mixture over the top. Next, put some goat cheese on top of the sauce. To finish, add some hardboiled egg. Growing up, my mom would add hardboiled egg in chunks directly to the sauce and then stir it all together. This added a bit of protein to the dish, so it made it more of a full meal. Personally, I like to add slices of hardboiled egg directly to the top so they don’t get lost in the sauce. You can add the eggs in, layer them on top, or leave them out entirely. Your choice. As one final finishing touch, sprinkle on some flaky sea salt.

These tips will make this recipe a success!

• Use full-fat Greek yogurt. You should never use a skim or low-fat milk product when heating on the stove. Lower fat items tend to “break” and separate at higher temperatures. Full fat will be more smooth and creamy.
• Always check the freshness of the asparagus. You may need to discard the bottom inch of the stalks if they are dried out.
• If the asparagus seems to be stringy and tenuous, peel off the bottom third using a vegetable peeler.