Asparagus Velouté, Saint-Félicien, Toasted Rice

Claude Bosi is back with this recipe for Asparagus Velouté, Saint-Félicien, Toasted Rice. Claude serves this as a cold soup and he uses white asparagus in this recipe. This is a really special recipe, packed with flavour and texture. It serves 6 as a starter and is sure to impress!

6 as a starter

Ingredients

500g white asparagus (for the velouté) 200g white asparagus (for the dice)
1 lemon
250ml whipping cream
200ml milk
360g blitzed Saint-Félicien 180g whipping cream
3 leaves gelatine
1 litre veg oil
25g black Canadian rice 250ml grapeseed oil
100g Carnaroli rice

Method

Print Recipe

Velouté – Method

Wash and slice (do not peel) the asparagus very thinly. In a saucepan, combine the cream and milk – and add the asparagus slices. Season with salt.

Simmer until just cooked.

When the cream has reduced a bit from the cooking process, blitz until a smooth / velouté consistency

Diced Asparagus – Method

Peel and cook in salted water. You will be able to glide a knife through it when it is ready. When it is cooked, cool in salted iced water. Remove and leave to dry on kitchen roll. Once cooled, dice into cubes which are approx. 1cm.
Set aside

Bavarois – Method

Soak the gelatine leaves in iced water. Take a bowl and semi-whip the cream over iced water. Set aside. In the meantime, blitz the whole Saint-Félicien cheese until smooth. Divide the mixture into 2 and set one part aside. On the stove top, warm one part in a saucepan over a medium heat. Dissolve the gelatine into the warmed mixture. Add the second part of the mixture. Cool over iced water. Gradually add in the semi-whipped cream. Leave to one side to rest.

Rice Puffs – Method

In a saucepan, heat the vegetable oil to 220 ̊C. Drop in the Canadian rice until it puffs. Carefully remove the rice and leave to dry on some kitchen towel. Season

Toasted Rice Oil – Method

Slowly (over a medium heat) toast the rice in a shallow pan on the stove top. Stir continuously – and be careful not to overheat. It will gradually turn golden when ready. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Gently crush the rice with a pestle and mortar – keep the texture and do not crush to dust.In a separate pan, heat the grapeseed oil to 60 ̊C. Whilst the rice is still warm, pour the grapeseed oil over the rice. Cover and leave to infuse for 24 hours. Strain to separate, and store.

To Plate

Serve in a large bowl.

Pour the velouté in the centre and put pieces of the diced asparagus around. Sprinkle the puffed rice over.
Drizzle some of the toasted rice oil
Quenelle the bavarois into the middle of the velouté.
Finish with lemon zest.