I’ve known Paula Butturini ever since she and her family lived in Rome, where her husband, John Tagliabue, was the New York Times correspondent. While covering the fall of Romania’s dictator in 1989 , John was severely wounded by a sniper’s bullet in his back. Thankfully, he survived, and Paula’s beautifully written Keeping the Feast is a memoir about nourishment and restoration after a long period of tragedy. It’s about the sustaining powers of food, family and friendship.
I’m very happy that Paula is visiting my blog today. The occasion is the paperback release of Keeping the Feast, and her book tour in the States. Paula will be traveling around during the next few weeks, with her first stop in New York, this Thursday, at the Calandra Italian American Institute. Visit her blog to find out more about that, and her other stops.
And if you’d like to win a copy of Keeping the Feast, just leave a comment below. The drawing will be on February 25.
Is it Spring Yet? (an excerpt from Keeping the Feast, by Paula Butturini)
Late January and early February are the tough months for me, when I’m desperate for winter to be over, when I don’t want to eat any more butternut squash, pumpkins, chestnuts or other winter food, no matter how good they first tasted late last fall and all through the holidays.
It’s the time of the year when I’m even tired of the gorgeous broccoli we seem to have been eating three times a week for months now. I crave not only something fresh and green, but more importantly, something new, something from this year’s garden, rather than last year’s. It’s as much — or more, actually — about needing the promise of spring than it is about eating, per se.
A food scientist would probably tell me that my body is craving some trace elements and minerals, but I say it’s my mind craving sunlight and warmth, and the reassurance that winter won’t last forever, that spring is on the way. Or that my stomach is telling me that it absolutely needs fresh asparagus, grown nearby, cut and brought to market, and cooked that very day. I’m rushing the season of course, but I like to think ahead about the asparagus that will be up soon; anticipating their appearance helps me chase winter away.
Boiled, steamed, braised, grilled or fried, green or white. I’m happy with almost any version of asparagus, as long as it isn’t cooked to mush. I love it boiled or steamed till just tender, served warm with olive oil and lemon, or fresh from the oven with a dribble of butter and grated Parmigiano. I adore it in risotto, a true spring tonic when made with fresh green onions and the broth that results from parboiling the asparagus first.
I love it paired with freshly sauteed veal, and almost any way with eggs — poached, lightly fried, in omelettes or frittatte. Though I’m not a great fan of the German version — thick, white asparagus served with thick, yellow hollandaise and accompanied by Black Forest ham — I remember a chilly spring lunch in Bonn, when I gobbled down a plate of perfectly boiled asparagus served with a German-style pancake whose batter was chock full of fresh herbs.
I can still taste the ethereal asparagus soup we inhaled on a trip to southwestern France nearly 10 years ago, eating it on the farm where it grew, and made and served by the wife of the farmer who had harvested it that morning. It was definitely not the prissy, wan cream of asparagus soup that is too often served in Parisian restaurants. This was a simple farm soup, a rich vegetable broth filled with big chunks of tasty asparagus and sliced, baby potatoes, with handfuls of chopped parsley to give it color and panache. I could have skipped the rest of that farm wife’s meal, and just stuck with the soup, eaten with crusty baguette, and followed by a bit of cheese.
But perhaps my favorite way to eat fresh asparagus is the way my father used to cook it when I was entering my teens, braised till barely tender under a bed of wet lettuce.
It’s a simple recipe that produced a vegetal perfume so inviting that it would fill our old Connecticut kitchen and call us all to table.
Braised Asparagus
1 bunch fresh green asparagus
1 tablespoon butter
Salt
Several large, fresh lettuce leaves, anything but the iceberg variety
Wash asparagus in several changes of water, and break off the tough white bottom of each spear. Cut each spear on the diagonal into bite-sized pieces, giving the spear a quarter turn after each cut. (This is done to increase the surface area and allow them to cook more quickly, but they can be cooked whole as well.) Place the butter in a large, shallow, non-reactive frying pan that has a good cover. Place the wet asparagus into the pan. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Wash the lettuce leaves and place them, dripping wet, over the asparagus, covering them completely. Then cover the pan tightly. Turn the heat on to medium high until the water inside starts to sizzle, then lower heat and cook for three to five minutes, depending on the thickness of the spears. Do NOT overcook. The asparagus should be barely tender but still have a bright, green color. Discard the lettuce leaves and serve immediately on a warm platter.
As a kid, I liked to be there for the moment when my father would lift the lid of the pan at the end of the cooking, to smell that cloud of vegetable essence that was waiting to escape. 
Elizabeth’s Newsletter from Italy
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Interesting recipe, although we’ll need to wait a little still for the real asparagus season to start (even though you can find them all year round right now, like the tasteless ubiquitous strawberries).
I would be tempted not to throw away the lettuce leaves but use them for soup.
I am very anxious t read this book- it sounds fabulous! Your article about the asparagus made me hungry! I too have trouble with late Jan and Feb….waiting for Spring to finally arrive. I adore asparagus and your description made me salivate….they are now on my shopping list!
mmm, my favorite vegetable! Asparagus to arrive in my next delivery of groceries!
Thank you Paula and Elizabeth for sharing the excerpt and the lovely recipe. I saw in Paula’s bio that she grew up in CT along LI Sound; she also noted in her bio how important her family’s garden was in the life of the family. I grew up on the other side of the Sound, on the North Fork of LI. The farms and my grandfather’s garden will always be an enduring memory of my childhood. I still escape to the North Forth to recharge, always returning to Manhattan with something from the farmstand or a local vineyard.
Asparagus, snap peas and rhubarb are, in my view, true spring mascots.
Thank you again for sharing. Best of luck on your tour.
Thanks to you both for sharing tis excert. I love asparagus and have a hard time waiting for spring to buy the freshest and best. This book sounds amazing; I will definitely make this recipe!
I love that it was your “father” calling you to the table!!! I also will use this recipe. Thanks
I couldn’t agree with you more~ also am anxious for Spring and the Spring flavors. Thanks for the Spring “warm Up!”
i didn’t have any idea that there are so many ways to cook asparagus… now we will eat every day !! :))
thanks for sharing Paula !!! mmmmmmmm…
Italy leaves its mark on everyone fortunate enough to live or visit there. It becomes part of the fabric of our lives, even after we have left. I look forward to reading Ms. Butturini’s book.
I too love asparagus. Usually roasted with a bit of olive oil and some herbs.
What a wonderful combination. Of course the French use lettuce to cook fresh peas but the lettuce is eaten as well. I always find it striking how our childhood memories of food remain with us.
Congratulations on your book; it sounds very nice and very timely.
Paula will be speaking onstage to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Health in Falls Church, Virginia and signing the paperback edition of her book. She will be appearing with college classmate Jane Condon, who is doing her one-woman show. Lots of food and drink will be provided. If you are in the DC area, please come and enjoy the show. Tickets can be purchased at https://tickets.statetheatre.com
Forgot to mention the date – February 7th, 2011 at 6:30 PM – Show starts at 7:30PM!
What a beautifully written excerpt. And perfectly timed too–just when we are all dreaming of Spring. Best wishes of success for the book to Paula and thank you, Elizabeth for sharing it with us!
I also hate winter and love spring as I have plans for our family Italy vacations then. Thanks for sharing the simple menu. I would like to try it. Ciao
Sounds absolutely divine – I’d love an opportunity to read this. I love all seasons, but unfortunately I don’t really get to experience them any more since moving to Florida five years ago! You may reach me at coffeeandabookchick at gmail dot com. Thanks!
Lovely post, and I’m ready for some late winter/early spring veggies myself! Thanks for the chance for a copy of this book 🙂
Wonderful excerpt. I live in New Hampshire and this winter has been particularly brutal, one snow storm after another, with several feet already built up in my backyard (and we still have many weeks of winter left). I have daydreams of my trip to Italy in 2009 and walking in the 100 degree heat amidst such antiquity and beauty! Would love to have a chance to read this book!
If the rest of the book is anything like that excerpt, it must be absolutely awesome! 🙂
sometimes I find wild aspargus near my house. I eat it before anyone knows. Looks like a great book.
We really know spring has arrived, not for the bright yellow mimosa trees or the crocus that are already up , but when we find the first thin, wispy wild asparagi along the roadside on the way to our olive grove. We’ll be pruning the olive trees next week and will keep an eye out for the asparagi to be eaten for lunch in a frittata. The book looks like a winner!
Lovely imagery, although asparagus is still a ways off for us in the mountains. Paula has a way with words, so i am sure this book is charming as well.
Asparagus is the tastiest in spring. The spring bloom suggests that it is the season where asparagus is most tasty in palette.