This vichyssoise recipe has been on my mind for ever, but for whatever reason I never managed to finalize it. I have always wanted to make a vichyssoise, but a different version from the traditional one which is made out of leeks, potatoes, milk, parsley and consumed cold.

Its origin is unclear, so I will not discuss something that we don’t know. One thing I know is that it’s delicious, no matter where it originated from.

This vichyssoise is served with a salad of asparagus placed in the middle of the plate, which gives an crunchy texture to the velvety soup. Soups are considered a meal that is supposed to warm you up, so the notion of cold soup is not very appealing to some people. Soups are so nutritious and delicious that they don’t have to be enjoyed only in winter. Here is one to enjoy cold, warm or hot. But if it’s hot, don’t call it Vichyssoise!

Ingredients

• 1 lb large asparagus (remove 4-5 asparagus from the bunch)
• 1 fennel bulb, cut in pieces (remove one piece to slice on a mandoline)
• 1/2 onion
• 1 small leek
• 2 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup (or 300 ml) vegetable bouillon
• 1/2 cup milk (or 150 ml) milk
• salt
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt or 2 tbs heavy cream

For the salad

• 4-5 asparagus, sliced lengthwise with a potato peeler
• 1 piece of fennel (2 inches) sliced thinly with a mandoline
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp, roasted fennel seeds
• 2 boiled eggs, chopped
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the soup

Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onion and cook slowly until translucent. Add leeks and potatoes. Cook stirring for about 5 minutes. Add broth. Cook for about 20 minutes, then add asparagus. Cook for about 5 min or until tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Using a blender, mix the soup to obtain a smooth texture. Add yogurt or cream. Let it cool and place in the refrigerator to chill.

For the salad

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Using a mandoline cut, asparagus lengthwise to form ribbons. Cook asparagus in water for 30 seconds, drain and set aside. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients except for the eggs. Add eggs at the end.

Serve soup cold, with a spoon or two of the salad in the center.

I am always amazed at the delicious dishes you can make with vegetables. I can certainly spend the rest of my life without looking at meat or any dead animal on my plate.

You could of course replace barley with brown rice, farro, quinoa…most of my recipes are versatile and I see them as ideas and suggestions.

In this recipe, I cooked barley in a rice cooker with broth and white wine, somehow like a risotto but not cooked by liquid absorption more like a steamed rice. It’s quite helpful when your time is limited. Of course, the texture is very different, not creamy and more dry, which works perfectly here because I added the cream of asparagus at the end.

Ingredients for 3

For the portobello

• 3 medium size portobello
• 1 tbs olive oil + 1 tbs
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1.5 medium leeks, sliced
• 2 tbs heavy cream or creme fraîche
• thyme for sprinkling
• 3-4 tbs gruyère cheese, grated
• salt and pepper

For the barley

• 4.20 oz (or 120 g) barley
• vegetable broth
• white wine
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 bunch asparagus
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the barley

Cook barley in a rice cooker with vegetable broth and white wine. The quantities are half each (50% broth, 50% wine). Usually, for liquid quantity vs. grain, I put enough liquid to cover grain + half inch extra liquid on top of the grain.

In a pan, heat olive oil and sweat the shallots until they become soft and translucent. Add leeks and 4 tbs vegetable broth. Cover and let cook at slow heat until the asparagus are soft. Adjust with salt and pepper. Blend in a mixer until the texture becomes smooth and creamy. If it’s too thick add broth.

When barley is cooked, add asparagus cream, mix well and keep warm.

For the portobello

In a pan, heat olive oil and add garlic. Stir a few minutes until fragrant, then add leeks. Add 2 tbs broth and cover. Let cook at slow heat until the leeks are soft and tender. Adjust with salt and pepper. Add thyme and cream. Let reduce. Remove from heat and set aside.

Sprinkle portobello with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Broil under broiler for about 5-10 minutes until the mushrooms produce water, but are not mushy. Remove from oven, absorb water with paper towel, and divide the leek mixture on top of each mushroom. Sprinkle with cheese and cook in a pre heated oven at 380F for 15-20 minutes or until mushrooms are golden brown.

Serve mushrooms hot on a bed of barley.

When you look at the ingredients of this pesto, you might think, it will be too strong especially with the mint and pecorino. When you taste it, you realize that it is indeed fragrant but delicate. I used some whole grain linguini made with red winter wheat but any short pasta such as penne or rigatoni would work fine too. Looking at the picture, it feels like I went crazy with the quantity of pesto, which I think I did. I had some extra I didn’t want to store in the refrigerator so I added it to the pasta, which was a little too much.

I added cooked asparagus to the whole dish, which added a little extra texture. For an alternative to traditional pesto alla genovese with basil and parmesan, try this one.

A little note on pecorino, I noticed in the US, the main pecorino kinds you get are either pecorino romano (from Rome) or pecorino sardo (from Sardinia), but there are so many kinds of pecorino in Italy, the word pecorino is quite generic and only tells you it is made out of  sheep milk (pecora). There are five types of pecorini whose production is very controlled and protected “denominazione d’origine protetta“: Pecorino sardo, pecorino romano, pecorino toscano, pecorino siciliano and fiore sardo.

Spring is just around the corner and what better to celebrate it than with this fresh dish full of colors and flavors!

Ingredients for 2

• 7 oz (or 200 g) of pasta
• 8.8 oz (or 250 g) fresh peas (or frozen)
• one handful of fresh mint
• 3 tbs raw walnuts
• 1.7 oz (or 50 g) pecorino
• 2 tbs meyer lemon juice
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Start preparing the pesto. If peas are frozen, defrost in a microwave or let it thaw at room temperature. Then mix all the ingredients in a mixer until smooth, adjust with salt and pepper.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, stir and let cook until al dente. Drain and mix well with pesto. Serve hot.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2013/03/lets-celebrate-spring-linguini-with-fresh-pea-pesto-mint-and-pecorino/feed/ 1 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/10/get-a-pillow-and-take-a-nap-pillows-with-fava-beans-asparagus-and-feta/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=get-a-pillow-and-take-a-nap-pillows-with-fava-beans-asparagus-and-feta http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/10/get-a-pillow-and-take-a-nap-pillows-with-fava-beans-asparagus-and-feta/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:53:16 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=12456 Prend un oreiller et fais une sieste – Coussins de filo aux fèves, asperges et chèvre

I could definitely sleep on top of those stuffed pillows, they’re warm and smell so good. For a long time, I didn’t like to manipulate filo dough, it was either drying too fast, or breaking, so I got annoyed with it and decided to leave it aside. Tant pis!

Then the idea of giving up, annoyed me even more…so I bought a pack of filo dough, and I decided to play with it…so far, the games were fun but I don’t seem to be able to finish the box 30 sheets of dough is quite a lot. It’s much lighter than puff pastry, then if you brush it with olive oil instead of butter, it’s even lighter!

I was reading an article on restaurant food, and it seems like fried food has never been that popular. So for those who like fried food, you can fry those pillows. Filo dough unlike puff pastry can be fried. I baked mine since I am still the “health nut” cook. One of the few things I like fried, is the fried green tomatoes I had once in a restaurant in the city. I can eat this once in a while, but I just don’t feel like frying it at home.

Fresh goat cheese tends to be bland, so I combined it with chives and garlic. When you bite on a crunchy pillow, the aroma of the cooked herbs comes out and you get a delightful sensation, melting cheese, crunchy filo and soft vegetables. Those are quick to prepare and cook, so they’re perfect to be served with a salad for a light lunch or as appetizer if you have unexpected guests.

Ingredients for 4 (2 each)

• 4 sheets filo dough
• 1/2 lb fava beans
• 1 bunch asparagus
• 1/2 lb fresh goat cheese
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbs chives, chopped
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Cut asparagus in 1 inch pieces and cook in salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Remove beans from the pods and cook in boiling water for three minutes. Drain and remove the peel.

In a small cup mix goat cheese, chives and garlic.

Remove filo dough sheets from box. Lay one sheet flat on a working surface. Brush the sheet with olive oil. Place another sheet on top and cut to have four squares. Place 1 tbs of fava beans and 1 tbs of asparagus in the middle, add salt and pepper. Top it with goat cheese mixture. Bring each side towards the center to form small pillows. Proceed the same way with the rest of the sheets. Brush the top of the pillow with olive oil.

Bake in a non-stick sheet at 370 for about 10 minutes or until the pillows are golden and crunchy. Serve hot.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/10/get-a-pillow-and-take-a-nap-pillows-with-fava-beans-asparagus-and-feta/feed/ 21 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/08/no-reblochon-no-tartiflette-fake-tartiflette-with-asparagus-and-brie/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-reblochon-no-tartiflette-fake-tartiflette-with-asparagus-and-brie http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/08/no-reblochon-no-tartiflette-fake-tartiflette-with-asparagus-and-brie/#comments Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:37:13 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=12042 Pas de reblochon, pas de tartiflette – fausse Tartiflette végétarienne aux brie et asperges

If you’ve been to Savoie (Savoy), you’ve probably tasted one of their specialties, la Tartiflette. Unlike what it may sounds, Tartiflette is not a tart. It’s not an old dish either. Most recipes derive from an ancient one and go back in times, some can be retraced to Etruscan era. Not tartiflette. It’s a dish that was created in the ’80s in Savoie, as a way to promote and sell reblochon, one of their local cheese.

Basically traditional tartiflette is made out of layers of thin sliced potatoes with caramelized onions bacon and topped with reblochon cheese on it. Of course, this is a heavy dish served when you go skiing in the mountains since Savoie is the main ski resort in France. My version has asparagus has brie (a cheese from the brie region, close to Paris) and St Nectaire (a very old cheese from Auvergne, pressed and uncooked made with raw milk). Now the cheese is supposed to look like this only with the crust up. I would not call this tartiflette simply because the reblochon cheese has been replaced by brie and St Nectaire, and those two are not cheeses from Savoie. Hope that makes sense. Even if it’s a fake one, it’s delicious.

For those interested in preparing a real tartiflette, add bacon when browning onions and replace brie with half reblochon and that’s it! Reblochon ( a soft washed-rind cheese, made with cow milk) is traditionally cut in half, and placed crust up on top of the potatoes so that the cheese will be able to melt and infiltrate the potatoes, and the crust will remain golden. I did not want to add a half brie here, for many reasons, one of which being a calorie issue. As far as fat content is concerned brie and reblochon and St Nectaire, they have a similar ratio of 45%.

Tartiflette is a rustic meal, it’s not considered a sophisticated dish, nor complicated to prepare, but you need great cheese, preferably imported that melts well and potatoes that remain firm without crumbling. Then if you have those two components right, you’ll get a great tartiflette…presque comme en Savoie!

Ingredients for 4

• 4 large yukon potatoes
• 2 onions, sliced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 28 asparagus
• Brie
• St Nectaire
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water, when cooked remove from pot, and let them cool. Peel and cut in 5mm slices.

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and brown them.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, add asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. set aside.

In a deep dish preferably using a clay pot, spread olive oil at the bottom of the pot. Add one layer of potatoes, add onions, add one layer of cheese and asparagus. Adjust with salt and pepper. Proceed again with potatoes, onions, asparagus and top it all with cheese.

Cook in a pre-heated oven at 375F until the cheese has melted and the crust golden. Serve hot with a green salad.

Thanks so much for all your kinds words on my previous post, you guys are really wonderful, kind and generous of your time. I do appreciate it a lot.

I think this dish is perfect for a tête à tête dinner (according to the dictionary, tête à tête is also used in English) to share with someone you care. I have been alone for about two weeks now, due to business trips of TP so I decided to have a tête à tête dinner with myself and I was quite happy about it.

Well, I think no matter what, you need to treat yourself as often as you can (that’s my theory on life) and enjoy anything even if you are by yourself.

My dog and bird are keeping me company…so temporarily being alone has some good sides and bad sides. You tend to enjoy the whole bed, no daily laundry, no mess around but then when you find a half mouse dead in your patio with just the tale and  legs, you have to figure out a way to clean it…I suspect the neighbors cats left it as a present.

After one hour of thinking how to remove it, I was embarrassed to ask my neighbor (the most adorable neighbors you can dream of) but I didn’t want to leave this mess in the patio and lacked courage to pick it up, so I had to tell them that Mr. Cat must have played too hard with a mouse again, so Gary cleaned it up for me. Thanks Gary!

We do use cilantro and coconut in French cuisine, even though it’s not really something you would use on a daily basis, and parsley is more frequently used than cilantro, those two ingredients are not unfamiliar to our cuisine. This fragrant pesto is delicious, the raw coconut adds a smooth finish to the dish. Oeuf cocotte is such a versatile dish and so much fun to eat. You can also use fava beans instead of the asparagus and white fish instead of the salmon, just play with it.

This combination is truly a harmonious blend of flavors, and a perfect little dish for a light diner en amoureux… or a diner for treating yourself!

Ingredients for 4

• 2 salmon fillet or 7 oz (or 200 g), diced
• 6 asparagus, cut in one inch pieces
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 3 tbs dry white wine
• 3 tbs crème fraîche
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper

For the cilantro-coconut pesto

• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 0.70 oz (or 20 g) raw unsweetened coconut shredded
• 4 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the cilantro-coconut pesto

Mix all ingredients in a blender.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and brown them. Add asparagus, wine, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until asparagus are cooked but still crunchy. Add salmon and cook for a few minutes. Add 2 tbs of pesto and stir for 30 seconds. Add cream and let it reduce a little.

Divide teh mixture into ramequins. Break on egg on top, add salt and pepper. Cook in a pre-heated oven until the yolks are runny and the whites still a little transparent. Serve with extra pesto on the side.

It’s time for some rice…rice and potatoes are two ingredients I rarely use, French people eat a LOT of potatoes, at my parents my mom rarely made them, Italians are more pasta eaters than potato eaters. A while ago, I started buying all the different kinds of rices I ran into, from black rice, to bamboo rice, any shape and color rice I saw. It seems like the excitement faded away, but I don’t want to leave rice aside, because I love it. It’s nutritious, healthy and can make wonderful side dishes.

The world of food has so many items to explore than sometimes, you get caught trying out new ingredients, and leaving aside the ones you know too well.

This rice has a rich and deep yellow color you get with combining saffron and paprika or pimenton as they say in Spain but I found Spanish pimenton to have a more smokey flavor.

Basically the rice is steamed in a vegetable broth with saffron and paprika, so it comes out almost orange. Such a vibrant color to have in ones plate.

Plain white rice is great with spicy dishes, it enables to decrease the powerful and strong flavors of the spices and balances everything perfectly. Sometimes I enjoy some more intricate rice dishes like this one, you can just eat it as a main dish and as is, because it’s a whole meal in itself and full of fragrant flavors. I certainly don’t want to call this vegetarian paella, which would be so wrong, but it has some similarities in some of the spices and cooking method, even though I did not use a paella tray, nor used Spanish rice.

Ingredients for 2-3

• 5.29 0z (or 150 g) brown rice
• one dose saffron
• 1/4 tsp Spanish pimenton
• vegetable broth (rice x 2)
• 1 shallot
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbs mixed oregano, very finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut in very small cubes (1/4 inch)
• 1 cup fresh peas (or frozen)
• 1/2 bunch asparagus, cut in small chunks (1/2 inch)
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

In a rice cooker or regular pot, mix broth, rice, saffron, pimenton and salt. Let it sit for a few minutes until the saffron has dissolved.  For broth quantities, I use about twice the amount of rice, in this case, since it’s brown rice, which takes harder to cook, I use about 3 times its quantity. If using rice cooker, broth needs to be at 2 cm above the level of the rice.

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots and let them soften. Add all the mixed vegetables and stir well. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but still firm, add garlic and oregano and cook for a few additional minutes to get the flavors out.

Mix in the rice, stir well until all the vegetables are well incorporated into the rice.

I am fascinated by the world of terrines, like most French, we love terrines, and what is more French than a terrine? really maybe baguette? they can be refined and elegant, beautiful, rustic, and so versatile, so why don’t I make them more often? well I don’t know…besides when you have guests, they can be prepared in advance so a great appetizer to consider for a dinner party or even buffet parties.

When people think of terrines, they think meat, which is a misconception, even if yes meat based terrines tend to be more known and traditional, fish and vegetables terrines are something incredibly delicious, elegant and light. All the flavors are mixed together to perfection and so delightful on toasted bread.

To make a perfect terrine that will stay together and that will not fall apart, you always need bread crumb (the white part), eggs and cream which are the best “liants” meaning ingredients that hold things together. You always need to butter the sides of the loaf pan or mold so that it will not stick to the bottom, and finally the terrine needs to rest in the refrigerator for at least one day before savoring it.

Ingredients for 3-6 people

For the terrine

• 10 oz (or 300 g) scallops
• 7 oz (or 200 g shrimps), shells removed + 6 shrimps whole, shells removed
• 3 eggs
• 5 fl oz (or 100 ml) heavy cream
• 3 slices of white bread, crust removed and ground
• 1 tbs parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbs dill, finely chopped
• 1 tbs chives, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

For the asparagus éffilochée

• 1 bunch asparagus, sliced lengthwise with a potato peeler
• 1 shallot, finely shopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

For the terrine

In a blender mix scallops and shrimps (except for the 6 shrimps), do not mix too fine, there need to be some small pieces of scallops and shrimps. Remove and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Clean the blender and add bread to make crumbs.

In a mixing bowl, add eggs and cream, add crumbs and herbs. Mix well. Adjust with salt and pepper.

Mix ground seafood with egg/cream mixture.

Butter a terrine pot, or loaf pan. Add half of the mixture, then place 6 shrimps in the middle, then pour the rest of the mixture on top. Cover with lid, or with aluminum foil airtight.

Cook in in a double boiler in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Let it cool, and place in the refrigerator for one day. Serve with asparagus and toasted bread.

For the asparagus

Slice aspargus with a potato peeler. Cook in salted water for 2-3 minutes. Place in a water bowl with ice cubes. Let them cool.

Prepare the vinaigrette, mixing all ingredients together. Toss vinaigrette with the asparagus.

I have had some poached eggs lately at a new little place that used to be a French restaurant called Couleur Café run by French people. It closed down, and opened again under another name, Pizza Nostra run by the same people and now it’s an Italian restaurant, well the menu is more Italian than French. I liked it before when they were serving French cuisine and I like it now serving Italian cuisine. One of my favorite brunch menu item is the poached eggs on asparagus artichokes and eggplants with a side of frisée.

The best poached egg salad I had was in Lyon. Of course, if you ever go to Lyon, you need to order a Salade Lyonnaise at L’Est one of Paul Bocuse‘s four brasseries (one of the most famous French chefs of this century). The four brasseries are comprised of Le Nord, Le Sud, L’Est and L’Ouest (North, South, East and West). That salad is really a masterpiece. Unlike other French cities, where you tend to get very tiny portions on your plate, Lyon is very different in that respect. That salad was enough for four people and so rich that it had probably the amount of calories I consume in three days…but a real delight. Actually, Lyon is my favorite city in France, I prefer Lyon than Paris, it reminds me of San Francisco, a very livable size city, a clean metro, and nicer climate.

So going back to our egg, what do you do when you get a poached egg? Do you break the egg right away or eat the rest of the dish and break the egg at the end? I think I never really changed from when I was 8 years old. I just hate to break the egg and see the yolk dripping by, sometimes I just feel like sticking the whole egg in my mouth, just not to break it.

Ingredients for 2

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup snap peas
• 1 cup fava beans, skin removed
• 4 asparagus, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp mixed herbs, chopped (parsley, chives, etc…)
• 4 slices pancetta, diced (optional)
• balsamic vinegar for drizzling
• parmesan or pecorino, shaved
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallots, brown them, then add pancetta, let it cook for a couple of minutes until it gets a little crunchy, then add garlic. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add snap peas and asparagus, salt and pepper. Cover and let it cook at slow heat.

Remove fava beans from the pod. Bring water to a boil in a small pot, then add fava beans. Cook for one minute depending on the size of the beans. Drain, let it cool and remove the skin from the beans.

Add to the snap peas and asparagus mixture.

To poach the eggs: In a medium size pot, bring water to a boil with salt and vinegar. When it started to boil, reduce heat so that it boils very slowly. Break egg in a bowl and slowly bring the bowl on top of the boiling water and pour it very slowly and carefully in the water. Make sure the egg whites don’t get spread out in the water, and bring the white close to the yolk. You can use two spoons to try to “glue” the egg whites all together on top of the yolk. remove the egg carefully and place in cold water to rinse the vinegar and stop the cooking process.

When the vegetables are cooked but not overcooked, drizzle with balsamic vinegar, shave some parmesan on top. Spoon vegetables in serving plates, place one poached egg on top, Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Lately I have been a little inconsistent with my plans, I buy products to make a particular dish I have in mind, then I do something completely different with it. I wanted to make some asparagus mousse for canapé with salmon and here they show up with spaghetti.

Don’t you love the green all over the picture? If you don’t like asparagus, forget this recipe. I certainly do lack photographic skills but I think it really looks as green as you see it. Asparagus have a very subtle flavor and when they are served in a creamy sauce, their flavor is decupled, I did not add any cream but you could add some, it will make the texture even more velvety.

There is nothing interesting behind this dish other than it was created one day while I was thinking about how to make some of my clients eat more vegetable in a way that it was not “obvious”. Some people would tell you, “Oh yeah we loooove vegetables!”, then after a while, you realize that they just hate vegetables if they look like a “vegetable” and they need to be hidden in something that has a different shape and mixed with a bunch of other ingredients, do you know what I mean?

Anyway, people eat what they like and the way they like it, and I am certainly not the one to judge people’s diets nor tastes…and just because I love that expression, I will say “It is what it is”. Just love to say this even if it doesn’t mean much when you think about it. It’s like stating the obvious.

One serving of these spaghetti makes you consume 1/2 bunch asparagus, which is not bad.

In France, I used to grow up eating salsifis (in English, oyster vegetable or salsifis I think). It’s white and long and looks like a white asparagus but it’s not. Also white asparagus are more popular over there. The white asparagus is an asparagus that grew in the ground without any light, so its flavor is very delicate. The purple asparagus is a white asparagus whose tip has grown above the ground, so it has a fruity flavor but a slightly bitter taste at light exposure. The green kind has been grown outside at full light so its green color is the natural process of its growth at sun exposure, and it’s the only asparagus that does not need to be peeled.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 7 oz (or 200 g) spaghetti
• 1 large bunch asparagus
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 2 tbs heavy cream (optional)
• 4 tbs goat cheese
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a pan, add shallots, stir and let them cook for about 5 min, then add garlic and stir again. Cut asparagus in 2 inch pieces and add to the pan. Let cook for about 5-10 minutes, then add broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the asparagus are cooked and tender.

Mix in a blender and put back in the pan. If the consistency is too thick, add broth. You will add cream at this point if you want to. Mix the cream and let it cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Cook spaghetti al dente, drain and add to the asparagus cream. Divide spaghetti onto plates and add goat cheese on top and fresh pepper if you like it. Serve very hot.