Asparagus, pea & goats’ cheese soufflés
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 30g walnuts, lightly crushed
- 300g British asparagus
- 200g peas
- 200ml whole milk
- 2tbsp flour
- 3 eggs
- 100g goats’ cheese
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat oven to 200C/Gas 6. Melt half of the butter and use it to brush the inside of 6 ramekin dishes. Sprinkle the walnuts into the dishes and tap around the edge so they stick to the butter. Arrange on a baking sheet and set aside.
- Cut the asparagus into 1cm pieces, leaving the tips a little longer. Cook with the peas in plenty of boiling salted water until tender. Drain and set aside the asparagus tips. Purée the stems and peas to a coarse paste using a hand blender or food processor. Set aside.
- Melt the rest of the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Add the flour, stir to make a smooth roux and cook for 1 min before whisking in the milk. Cook, stirring, until thickened and remove from the heat.
- Chop the goats’ cheese into cubes. Stir the cheese, puréed asparagus and peas through the sauce. Season generously.
- Separate the eggs, tipping the yolks into the asparagus sauce and the whites into a clean metal bowl. Stir the yolks through the sauce.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fluffy (don’t over whisk). Take a large spoon of the egg white and stir it vigorously into the sauce, then pour the sauce into the bowl of egg whites. Using a large metal spoon, fold the sauce very gently through the egg whites.
- Spoon the mixture gently into the prepared ramekins, push the reserved tips gently into the top of the mixture and bake in the oven for 20 mins. Don’t open the oven door while they’re cooking as they will collapse. Serve immediately with green salad.
