Breaded Asparagus With Tartar Sauce

This is great as an appetizer or just as a snack. Asparagus is a common vegetable in the German speaking regions of Europe, where this dish is usually called, "Gebackener Spargel." 

1 pound asparagus
1/3 cup flour
2 beaten eggs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (Panko style, if you like really crunchy)
1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese 
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika 
1/2 teaspoon salt (the cheese will have plenty of salt)

Tartar Sauce*

Cut or break off the tough ends of the asparagus stalks. Put the flour on a plate, mix in the pepper and salt. In a shallow dish, beat the eggs. On another plate, mix the breadcrumbs, the Pecorino Romano and the paprika. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Heat the oven to 400 F. Rinse the asparagus and leave the stalks a bit damp. Roll each piece of asparagus in the seasoned flour. Then dip each piece into the beaten egg and then roll them in the breadcrumbs. Place the breaded asparagus spears on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 to 17 minutes. Serve the asparagus with tartar sauce.

* This is the link to my recipe for homemade tartar sauce: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/09/homemade-tartar-sauce.html

WORD HISTORY: 
Asparagus-This word for the plant used as a vegetable goes back to Indo European "speregh," which had the notion, "move or hasten upwards." It is related to "spring" (move upward). This gave Greek "aspáragos" for the name of the plant, from the idea, "shoots of the plant moving upward so prominently from the ground." This was borrowed by Latin as "asparagus," but often rendered also in the clipped form, "sparagus." This was borrowed into the latter period of Old English as "sparage," which then became "sparagi." Close English relative, German, also borrowed the clipped form, which has carried into modern times as "Spargel." The English form was altered to "asparagus" from the proper Latin form in the second half of the 1300s.