Parmesan flan with asparagus puree
Ingredients
- 100 g Parmesan, finely grated
- 2 eggs, separated
- 50 g soft butter, plus another generous knob of soft butter
- 100 g crème fraiche
- 50 g plain flour
- salt, white pepper
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- 500 g green asparagus, prepared and chopped
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- rapeseed oil
- 1 tsp grainy mustard
- 100 ml vegetable stock
- salt, pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 150 °C. Add water to a roasting tin, about 1 to 2 cm high, place roasting tin on bottom shelf in oven. Grease four ramekins (or oven-proof cups) with soft butter, dust with a little flour, set aside.
- Whip egg whites with a pinch of salt, set aside. In a bowl, whisk 50 g butter and egg yolks until pale and fluffy. Add Parmesan and crème fraiche, mix well. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Gently fold in whipped egg whites and flour. Distribute mixture over four ramekins, cover each with foil. Place ramekins in the ready water bath / roasting tin, bake for about 40 minutes.
- In a frying pan, gently heat some rapeseed oil. Add shallot and chopped asparagus, sweat for a few minutes over moderate heat. Add a little vegetable stock, cook until asparagus is soft. Remove from the heat, blend to a smooth puree, season with salt, pepper and a little grainy mustard.
- Serve asparagus puree with the Parmesan flans – both are good at all temperatures.