Broth in your sweets? Why not. Here’s a creamy and delicious asparagus soup with parmesan flan that will truly satisfy your sweet tooth.

Ingredients:

For the flan:
1 1/4 cups Parmigiano Reggiano cheese grated
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 whole large egg
2 large egg yolks
pinch of white pepper and fine, sea salt

For the soup:
The following ingredients will ultimately end up in a blender and sieved so…a rough chop is all that is necessary
1 leek (white and pale green part only), washed well then chopped
2 finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
(pick a couple of pretty ends and set aside for garnish)
5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of fine sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Preparation:

Making the Parmesan Flan:

Bring cheese, cream and milk just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and cover for 30 minutes to fuse the flavors.

Preheat oven to 300°F

Whisk together whole egg, yolks, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Add the cream and cheese mixture whisking until smooth.  Divide among well-buttered ramekins. Fill up to 3/4.
Set the ramekins in a baking dish containing a water bath. Place in the oven and bake until centers are completely set, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer each ramekin to a rack and cool 5 minutes. Cover with foil and keep warm.

 

Making the soup while flans bake:

Cook the chopped leek and shallots in a 6 qt. pan with butter over medium heat until softened about 3-4 minutes.  Add the asparagus and broth.  Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until asparagus is tender.

With a slotted spoon, transfer small amounts of soup ingredients to blender and purée until smooth. (Remember this is hot and blender lid will pop off so hold down the lid). Pour mixture through a sieve over a large bowl.  If too liquid in the bowl, add small amount of cream to the blender when puréeing next batch.

Take this soup and place back on a stove in a new pan over medium heat and add cream and season to taste. Do not cook the soup just warm it as you cream and season.

Serving:

Removing the flan from the ramekin…I used a buttered knife and slid around the inside parameter of the ramekin, then tapped the bottom to further loosen.  I placed the soup bowl over the top of the ramekin and holding the ramekin to the bowl, I turned the bowl back over. Carefully, I removed the ramekin from the flan. Carefully add soup surrounding the flan. Garnish with asparagus tip.

The soup can be made a day ahead. Just reheat on low heat.  Remember it is already cooked. You just want to warm it up.

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