Aromatic comfort food with a twist
Part of this year's New Year's Resolution was that I would loose ten kg's within the first 6 months. A modest goal, translating into ca 1.6 kg per month, or less than 1 pound per week. I also wanted to give myself a break from my seemless endless craving for meat dishes, so for the moment at least I have turned vegetarian. As I still like to nibble away at a bit of cheese and have milk in my coffee, Veganism is (at least at present) out of the question. So far it has been a tasty and interesting week and my tastebuds certainly don't seem to miss the large slabs of protein I would normally devour. Yesterday's recipe was a particular highlight as I always had a penchant for Asparagus and it was particularly quick and easy to prepare. And yes, it's absolutely delicious with only a hint of horseradish on the palate.
The ingredients have been significantly altered from the original recipe and adjusted to New Zealand fare and will serve four people if you want to serve this as a starter, or two as a main course.
Preheat oven to 220 deg Celsius (425° F).Cover the inside of a pie dish (or a lasagna dish) with the puff pastry sheets, making sure it fits snugly in all corners. Remove the superfluous pastry and save for later. Now place the asparagus inside the dish in whatever pattern you like.
Whisk together the yolks, creme, sour creme, butter and horseradish in a bowl and vigourosly stir (preferably with an electric mixer). Salt and pepper to your liking. Now pour the mixture over the asparagus and arrange the remaining pastry in a nice pattern on top of the pie. Now sprinkle the parmesan densely over your little piece of art. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 190 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes if the pastry browns too fast.
Serve warm with a nice varietal: a Gewürztraminer will do nicely.
Mahlzeit!