Cheesy Baked Asparagus Recipe

I wasn't an asparagus fan when I was young. I was thinking that it could only be consumed by boiling it and flavoring it with lemon juice and garlic. Because when it comes to vision and insight, I am the one! As a matter of fact, I consumed it only that way for a long time. It wasn't until I moved to Spain that I started consuming asparagus more often and in different ways. When the number of vegetables I had access to in Spain was limited, I started to consume the available vegetables in different ways.

The lack of vegetables in Spain is also an interesting issue. There is not only small okras, celeriac and purslane, but I feel as if I was consuming a different vegetable every day in Turkey, but there are no vegetables here. Moreover, I can find frozen okras and celeriac in certain places. In essence, it is just purslane I can't find here. I wonder if we were eating purslane every day in Turkey? By the way, purslane is my favorite among green leafy vegetables.

Here's something else about vegetables. Availability of a vegetable does not mean it is affordable. For example, spinach is mostly sold in bags, and for some reason, that spinach sold in bags does not give good results in dishes containing intense spinach, such as spinach hunkar begendi. I can't taste spinach when I cook it that way. I only use it in recipes where it just supports the dish, such as Italian wedding soup. That's why spinach is ruled out. Zucchini is mostly dark green and I don't like its taste at all. Light green pumpkins are also usually seedy. For example, I love eight ball zucchini dolma, but eight ball zucchinis are also very large and seedy. I don't like them either. So let's say there is half a zucchini. Speaking of dolma, let's also eliminate the bell peppers for dolma. It doesn't exist at all. Likewise, green beans are seedy.

I think it would be easier if I counted the vegetables that I could find whenever I wanted, in the quality I wanted, regardless of the season. Eggplant, tomato, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower and asparagus. One of the most ridiculous things in Spain is that you can find fresh cauliflower everywhere, every season, every day. I don't know why they are eating cauliflower in the middle of summer.

I went on and on, but I think I was able to make my point. It challenges one's creativity when one has to consume asparagus frequently. Although cheesy baked asparagus is not an overly creative recipe, it is one of the most delicious asparagus dishes I have ever tried. It goes well with meat, chicken and meatballs, or can be eaten alone as a light lunch.

You do not need to pre-boil the tender parts of the asparagus you use, close to the root, but asparagus that is mature enough to turn white in these parts requires pre-boiling according to Turkish taste. Non Turkish people par boil green beans and eat them that way and call this consistency crispy. In our case, that consistency is raw. We, Turks,  shouldn't have to chew what we eat, the food should melt in our mouth. If you do not have the classical Turkish taste, you can cook the asparagus according to your own taste.

Enjoy the recipe...

Enjoy your meal...