The pastry can be made ahead of time. The hollandaise can also be made a little in advance, it of ten splits if you try to reheat to rest in a warm place or store in a vacuum flask.
320g ready rolled puff pastry
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp of water
500g asparagus spears, tough woody ends removed
Hollandaise
250g unsalted butter, cubed
4 egg yolks
1 tbsp lemon juice
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Unroll the pastry sheet, leaving it on the paper it was wrapped with. Cut into 6 equal pieces, brush the top with beaten egg yolk and bake for 10 minutes. They should be golden and well rise. Remove from the oven, slice through the middle so you have a top and bottom and set aside.
To make the hollandaise, gently melt the butter in a pan, allowing the milky white liquid to fall to the bottom. Remove from the heat and leave to settle. Very gently, pour off the clear fat into a jug leaving the milk solids behind and set aside.
Put the egg yolks in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, whisk vigorously until the eggs become lighter in colour and are starting to thicken into aa sauce. Be careful not to scramble the eggs and if you think the bowl is getting to hot, turn the heat or remove temporarily from the pan but do not stop whisking.
Add the clarified butter a little at a time, whisking with each addition. Do not try and rush this stage. When all the butter is incorporated, season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper if using and lemon juice. Keep warm until ready to serve, stirring every so often.
Prepare starter plates with the 6 pastry bases.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. drop in the asparagus and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender, remove to a colander, season with salt and pepper and divide between the pastry bases, spoon over some hollandaise and top the golden pastry lid.
Ingredients
- 320 g ready rolled all butter puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water
- 500 g asparagus tough ends removed
Hollandaise
- 250 g unsalted butter cubed
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Unroll the pastry sheet, leaving it on the paper it was wrapped with. Cut into 6 equal pieces, brush the top with beaten egg yolk and bake for 10 minutes. They should be golden and well rise. Remove from the oven, slice through the middle so you have a top and bottom and set aside.
- To make the hollandaise, gently melt the butter in a pan, allowing the milky white liquid to fall to the bottom. Remove from the heat and leave to settle. Very gently, pour off the clear fat into a jug leaving the milk solids behind and set aside.
- Put the egg yolks in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, whisk vigorously until the eggs become lighter in colour and are starting to thicken into aa sauce. Be careful not to scramble the eggs and if you think the bowl is getting to hot, turn the heat or remove temporarily from the pan but do not stop whisking.
- Add the clarified butter a little at a time, whisking with each addition. Do not try and rush this stage. When all the butter is incorporated, season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper if using and lemon juice. Keep warm until ready to serve, stirring every so often.
- When you're ready to serve, prepare starter plates with the 6 pastry bases.
- Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. drop in the asparagus and cook for 1-2 minutes until tender, remove to a colander, season with salt and pepper and divide between the pastry bases, spoon over some hollandaise and top the golden pastry lid.
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