English asparagus soup with Devon egg, brioche, Parmesan, Pata Negra, and gomashio
Want to become a skilled home cook? Our talented top chef Kenneth Culhane from restaurant The Dysart will show you how. He shared one of his favourite dishes with us, so you can surprise your guests at home with delicious haute cuisine. In this exclusive recipe, you will learn to conjure up English asparagus soup with Devon egg, brioche, Parmesan, Pata Negra, and gomashio.
Asparagus soup
You can begin by removing the top spears from the asparagus and turning the base, keeping all the trimmings and the base for the soup. In a bit of butter, gently sauté the garlic and shallots until soft. Then slice the bases of the asparagus finely. Add them to the shallots, cover with chicken or vegetable stock and cook quickly until the asparagus are soft in texture. Finally, add the spinach and blend until smooth in a blender. Cool quickly over ice. Season with salt and pepper.
| 3 bunches | Yorkshire asparagus |
| 2 l | Chicken or vegetable stock |
| 1 | Amalfi lemon, unwaxed |
| 500 g | Spinach |
| 4 cloves | Lautrec purple garlic |
| 4 | Shallots |
| Salt |
Cooked asparagus spears
Place the asparagus spears in a pot with some kombu, Douglas fir, a little salt, butter and a splash of stock. Place a lid on top and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. You can leave a little crunch in the vegetable, remove the lid, and reduce any liquid to glaze it.
| Asparagus spears from the previous step | |
| 1 branch | Douglas fir tree |
| 10 g | Butter |
| 10 g | Rishiri Kombu seaweed |
| 20 ml | Soy sauce |
Poached Devon egg
Place the fresh eggs in the fridge to cool before poaching. This will help form the egg. Next, boil some water with a little vinegar. Slowly add the cracked eggs into the water and allow them to poach. Depending on the size of the eggs you would be looking at 3-4 minutes. For the last two minutes of cooking, just add a little stick of kombu to season the egg.
| 4 | Devon eggs |
| Vinegar | |
| Kombu seaweed |
Lemon and chive gomashio
Toast the sesame seeds in a pan for 3 minutes, then add some sea salt. Once cold, add the chives and some lemon zest.
| 5 g | Wadaman black sesame seeds |
| 5 g | Chives, finely chopped |
| Lemon zest | |
| Salt |
Soup toppings
Using a vegetable peeler, peel some of the aged Parmesan. Slice the Pata Negra ham into small pieces. Next, cut the brioche into rectangles, and quickly toast on all sides.
| 20 g | Pata Negra ham |
| 12 | Brioche |
| Parmesan 30+ years aged | |
| Salt |
You’re ready to assemble the soup! Pour the asparagus soup into a deep bowl. On top of the warm egg, place the sesame chive gomashio. Finally, place the asparagus spears, brioche, and ham around the egg and season with some olive oil. The soup can be served warm or cold, depending on one’s preference.
Enjoy your meal!
Restaurant The Dysart