C – Another lemon week? Yup. A savory lemon week.
Jim got this crazy idea to do another week with lemons. I guess we have a lot of lemons out there on that tree. It’s a bit hard for me to figure out what to do with lemons, unless the recipe involves lots of sugar. But, I am up for the challenge.
This pan seared asparagus with crispy lemon breadcrumbs crumbs was the perfect start to the week. Really simple and quick.
You make your own breadcrumbs by using old bread and frying them up in butter. Once crisp, you add some red pepper flakes and lemon zest.
It makes a really tasty topping to the asparagus. It’s almost like a healthy deep fried asparagus. Once the breadcrumbs were done I pan seared the asparagus until they had a nice little char. Add some deep fried shallots to the mix and lemon over top and you’re done.
It’s an amazing dish. I could have eaten the whole thing by myself. Simple and delicious.
Pan searing the asparagus made them nice and sweet, but still crisp. The crispy shallots and breadcrumbs complimented the sweet asparagus nicely. Of course, adding more lemon juice over top gives the dish a perfect balance with the sweet and salt of the other elements.
| Savory Lemon Week: Asparagus with Crispy Lemon Breadcrumbs |
- 2 slices sour dough bread, crust removed and torn
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pound of asparagus, hard parts of the stalks removed
- 3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
- 1 small shallot, minced
- Lemon wedges
- In a food processor, place the sourdough bread and pulse into large crumbs.
- Place butter into a saute pan and melt on medium heat. Add bread crumbs and cook until golden brown.
- Remove from heat. Add red pepper flakes, lemon zest and salt to taste. Mix well. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Place grapeseed oil into a saute pan on medium high heat and add shallots pan. Cook until lightly brown about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove shallots from pan.
- Add more oil, the asparagus, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until asparagus has some brown spots. Turn during cooking.
- Transfer onto a serving plate.
- Sprinkle the toasted shallots on top.
- Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over top.
- Serve immediately with lemon wedges.
- Enjoy!
We ate this with some pan seared salmon drizzled with more lemon. It was a completely awesome meal.
It’s a great start to savory lemon week. I hope I can keep it up.