Categories: Starters

Asparagus with hollandaise sauce and asparagus soup

This recipe is all good : first, asparagus are seasonal vegetables, and second, there is no waste.
(And what about the egg whites? would ask the pickiest ones. Well, you can freeze them, and use them later to make “floating islands”. Voilà!)

So let’s say that you have two appetizers for the price of one, or even a complete vegetarian and gluten free meal, and zero waste.

For 4 people

24 asparagus (about 2kg (4 lb))
2 eggs
1 tsp of sweet mustard
2 tbsp of lemon juice
100g (1/2 cup) of butter
100ml (1/2 cup) of cream
1 tsp of ground nutmeg
2 potatoes
Milk
1 vegetable stock cube
Salt, pepper
Chervil and chives flowers (optional)

Wash the asparagus then peel them. Set the peelings aside.

Cook the asparagus in boiling water for about 20 minutes (they should be tender).

Drain them but keep the cooking water.

Prepare the Hollandaise sauce in five minutes. Gently heat the egg yolks with the mustard, and the lemon juice in a double boiler. Add the butter in small pieces, stirring continuously. Finally, add the liquid cream and heat a little bit more. Serve lukewarm.

In a large pan, place the peelings, the peeled and cut in pieces potatoes, the vegetable stock cube and ground nutmeg. Cover with ¾ of milk and ¼ of asparagus cooking water. Cook on low heat (to avoid the milk to overflow) for about 45 minutes. Mix the soup very well in a blender and pass through a sieve. Adjust seasoning. Serve for example with a sprig of chervil and chives flowers).

Plate: Digital @ Bernardaud

Fabrice