Saturday Recipe

I was just sitting around on Thursday night and it occurred to me that my blog name includes the word chocolate, right? So then I wondered about asparagus and chocolate. This is what I found. There is actually a video of this on YouTube if you want to see exactly how they make it. The presentation in the video is somewhat different though. Of course you don't have to use English asparagus, that grown on a Canadian farm or an American farm is equally as good.

White chocolate and English asparagus tarts

Reynolds Greengrocer (England)

Ingredients (serves 12)

Sweet pastry cases

• 1 ½ eggs, beaten and chilled
• 500g plain flour
• 50g glucose syrup
• 250g unsalted butter, diced and well chilled
• 200g icing sugar

White chocolate and asparagus filling

• 250ml double cream
• 350g English asparagus, finely sliced (n.b. you can use stalks and is a good way of using up trimmings)
• 420g white chocolate
• Mascarpone to finish

Method

Sweet pastry cases

1. Sieve flour and icing sugar into food processor bowl, then add glucose and butter. Blitz until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs then gradually add beaten egg until mix comes together.
2. Remove from bowl, wrap and chill for at least two hours before rolling.
3. Preheat oven to 180°c. Roll the pastry out onto a floured work surface to approximately 3mm thick, then use a 90-100mm cutter to cut out the discs for the individual tart rings (80mm diameter, depth of 10mm). Press the pastry into the pre-greased tart rings then chill for 30 minutes before cooking.
4. Blind bake for 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow the tart to cool before filling.
5. Alternatively you could line one 25cm flan ring and make one large tart.

White chocolate and English asparagus filling

1. Place the cream and the sliced asparagus into a heavy based pan and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate in a pan over some simmering water, ensuring the water is not in contact with the bowl.
3. When the cream has reached boiling point and the asparagus has softened, pass the cream through a fine sieve and squeeze out any leftover moisture using a ladle.
4. Combine the melted white chocolate and the asparagus cream and mix well before pouring into the pastry cases. Chill for two hours before serving.
5. Finish with a quenelle of mascarpone and a chocolate shaving.

Have a great weekend