Asparagus over a bed of Sauteed Mushrooms, Shallots, Turkish Figs, & Roasted Garlic

Sautéed Asparagus Bundles over a bed of whole roasted garlic with sautéed mushrooms, shallots, and Turkish Figs

• Bag of Asparagus
• Grape seed oil
• Thickly Sliced Mushrooms (if you buy them prepackaged, buy at least two packages, to account for shrinkage when sautéed)
• At least 1 whole garlic bulb
• 4-6 shallots
• 4-6 Turkish Figs (they vary in size, use your best judgment)
• Package of fresh Chives
• Peppercorns
• Kosher Salt

In a small baking pan, drizzle oil and place cloves of garlic (peeled and prepped) and bake on 350 until soft and well roasted. Remove from oven. Meanwhile, sauté in pan shallots, figs, and mushrooms; prepare your asparagus during this time. (Feel free to add coarsely ground peppercorns and small amount of salt over the top of it all at this point).

Note: Asparagus has a natural breaking point, “bend and snap” for the perfectly edible spear.

When mushroom mixture is nearly done, in a separate pan lightly sauté asparagus. You want them to be just shy of a dente, so be careful. When they look like they’re almost done, cook them a few seconds longer until they’re almost, almost done! Then lay them out on a cookie sheet or plate. Take 3-4 asparagus spears and tie them with a fresh chive. I tied the chives with a half hitch, and then wrapped the chive around to tie another half hitch on the other side. You can make bigger bundles, but the chives are delicate. You can place the bundles in foil or in a pan and bake for a few minutes.

To serve, spread a few scoops of mushroom mixture on a plate and then place asparagus bundle on top! It will look and taste great! Too bad I left my camera in my friend’s car the day before!

ej