Asparagus Pudding From The U S V I Recipes

CAMEMBERT-ASPARAGUS BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish, and set dish aside. Snap off and discard tough ends of asparagus. Using a vegetable peeler, carefully peel outer layer from bottom 2 inches of asparagus spears.
• Fill a large straight-sided saute pan with salted water, and bring to a boil; prepare an ice bath. Add asparagus, and cook until bright green, about 1 minute. Transfer asparagus to ice bath, and let cool. Drain, transfer to a clean kitchen towel, and pat dry. Set asparagus aside.
• Melt 1/2 tablespoon butter with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and cook, stirring once or twice, until mushrooms turn golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a plate; set aside.
• Melt remaining tablespoon butter with remaining tablespoon oil, and add onion. Cook until onion is soft and translucent, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from heat, and set aside.
• Randomly arrange half of the bread pieces on bottom of prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle half of the rosemary over the top. Place half of the asparagus, onions, mushrooms, and cheese on top. Make a second layer with remaining bread, rosemary, asparagus, onions, mushrooms, and cheese.
• To make custard, combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan, and set over medium-high heat; cook until mixture is hot. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, hot-milk mixture, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until combined.
• Pour custard over pudding. Press down on pudding, completely soaking top layer of bread, and place a plate on top. Weigh down the plate with a can or other object. Let pudding stand 20 minutes.
• Bake pudding until custard has set and top is golden, about 45 minutes. Remove dish from oven, and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve.

ASPARAGUS AND PARMESAN PUDDINGS

Steps:

• Butter eight 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflé dishes. Coat with breadcrumbs. Cut off asparagus tips. Cook tips in large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain; reserve tips and 1 cup cooking liquid. Coarsely chop asparagus stalks.
• Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Add stalks; sauté until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Add reserved asparagus cooking liquid. Cover; simmer until stalks are tender, about 12 minutes.
• Uncover; cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Transfer to food processor; puree. Add Parmesan, ricotta and flour. Using on/off turns, process just until blended. Season with salt and pepper.
• Whisk eggs in bowl to blend. Add asparagus puree; whisk to blend. Stir in all but 16 asparagus tips. Divide custard among cups. Place cups in roasting pan. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cover; chill puddings and remaining asparagus tips.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour hot water into pan to come 1 inch up sides of cups. Bake puddings until set, about 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Invert onto plates. Garnish with asparagus tips.

SAVORY ASPARAGUS BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F & spray a 9x13-in baking dish or casserole w/non-stick cooking spray.
• Cut bread into 3/4-in slices by stacking 4-5 slices & then cutting them into 3/4-in cubes. Repeat w/remaining bread & put cubes in a lrg bowl.
• In med bowl, whisk together the milk, broth, eggs, salt, pepper + dill till combined & pour over bread cubes.
• Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus & cut the spears into 1-in pieces. Add them to the bread along w/the mushrooms, shallots & olives (if using).
• Fold everything together well to combine the ingredients, spoon into the prepared pan, pat down the top to compact the ingredients & sprinkle the cheese evenly ever the top.
• Bake for 45 min or till the top is browned & crisp & there is no liquid in the center. Allow to sit for 10 min b4 cutting into portions.
• Ann's STRESS SAVER TIP: Look for frozen asparagus tips & bags of unseasoned bread cubes to save prep time.
• Ann's EYE APPEAL TIP: Instead of mushrooms (or as a simple addition), add 1 cup sliced pitted black olives for color contrast & a flavor complement to the asparagus (I included this in the recipe as an opt add).

ASPARAGUS FLAN

Steps:

• Wash the asparagus and cut the hard stem.
• Slice cut the asparagus but save six ends.
• Blend the asparagus slices to get a green cream.
• Prepare a Béchamel sauce, put in a pan the milk (pre-heat), butter and a tablespoon of white flour and cook at low flame until you get a light condensed white cream.
• Add to the béchamel sauce the asparagus blend we obtained before and add the egg yolk, salt and pepper.
• Buttering and flouring the pudding molds (better aluminum made) then, add the asparagus cream.
• Cover the pudding molds with aluminum foil.
• Take a ceramic casserole and fill with water and dunk the pudding molds inside. The water level need to be at half of the pudding molds.
• Baking at 180°C (oven pre-heated) for 30 minutes.
• Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes to roast the surface of each flan.
• Take out the molds and when they're cooled remove the mold and decorate with the asparagus ends.

ASPARAGUS BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal.
• Steam asparagus for 2 to 3 minutes or until slightly tender.
• Chill under cold running water; drain well.
• Whisk together milk, eggs, salt and pepper until well blended.
• Butter a 12 ½ x 8 x 4-inch oval casserole dish (or 12-cup baking dish).
• Layer 4 slices of bread in dish, overlapping as necessary.
• Top with one-third each of asparagus, Provolone and herbs. Repeat layering.
• Pour egg mixture over top.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or for up to 1 day to let egg mixture soak into bread.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Sprinkle pudding with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake on middle rack for about 60 minutes or until centre is set and top is golden.