Baked asparagus with a paprika and yogurt sauce

Said it once: I don’t even like asparagus…  But, it just seems right to test the The 10 best asparagus recipes from The Guardian one by one. This one  is very easy, very tasty and very filling. Just the kind of stuff you want to eat over lunch with shredded chicken or a bit of rice, if you are feeling vegetarian. For the benefit of the bikini season, I have omitted the butter the original recipe called for. It is not as creamy, but still delicious.

Baked asparagus with a paprika and yogurt sauce  (recipe adapted from the The 10 best asparagus recipes’ column from The Guardian)

Ingredients

• 900g asparagus, trimmed (and scraped if using white asparagus)
• ½ tsp sugar
• 300ml yoghurt
• 1 tsp plain flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp sugar
• 25g fresh breadcrumbs

 Method

Preheat the oven to 200 oC. Wash and drain the asparagus thoroughly. Simmer for 5 minutes in boiling water and drain. Pat dry with kitchen paper and arrange in a large, greased  oven proof dish.

In a small bowl, mix together thoroughly the sour cream or yoghurt, flour, egg yolk, salt, paprika and sugar. Pour this evenly over the asparagus. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and then dot with small knobs of the butter. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden.