Asparagus Velouté
A luxurious and creamy French soup made with white asparagus, enriched with heavy cream and thickened with egg yolk. This elegant velouté transforms fresh asparagus into a silky, refined first course.
Ingredients
- •2 pounds white asparagus
- •1 quart chicken stock
- •1 cube sugar
- •5 cup cornstarch
- •1 whole egg yolk
- •1 cup heavy cream
- •to taste salt
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
1. Wash the asparagus. Cut 2 inches (5 cm.) off the tips and save them for another use. Do not peel the stalks but cut them into 15-inch (3-cm.) pieces.
10 min
- 2.
2. Bring the stock or broth to a boil in a soup pot. When it bubbles, add the asparagus pieces and sugar. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
25 min
- 3.
3. Blend and pass through a fine strainer (a chinois if possible), pressing on the solids with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Put the soup back in the pot, bring back to a boil, and boil about 30 minutes more.
40 min
- 4.
4. Thoroughly mix the cornstarch in a bowl with 1 tablespoon cold water. Beat the yolk and cream together in a bowl large enough to hold all the soup.
5 min
- 5.
5. When the soup in the pot has been reduced by about half, whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly, and then gently pour everything into the bowl with the egg-cream mixture, whisking as you pour.
5 min
- 6.
6. Pour the contents of the bowl back into the soup pot and heat very gently in order to thicken. Stir with a spatula and turn off the heat at the first sign of boiling. Blend. Season with salt as necessary.
10 min
