Asparagus soufflé

• By Matty Cremona

This requires precise planning, because the soufflés must be served immediately or they will collapse.

You will need:

60g of plain flour, 400ml of milk, 400g of asparagus, the yolks of six eggs, a pinch of salt, the whites of eight eggs, 120g of butter, 50g of Parmesan cheese (freshly grated), one large white onion (peeled and very finely chopped).

Trim the woody parts off the asparagus, then wash it and boil it until it is tender. Drain it and blend the asparagus until it is smooth. Fry the onion gently in 20g of the butter until it is very soft, but still pale.

Then dissolve 60g of the butter in a pan and add the flour. Stir it until you have a smooth paste. Cook for about two minutes to remove the floury taste. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the milk and stir it until the mixture blends smoothly, and return the pan to the heat. Stir until the mixture thickens. Add the Parmesan cheese and asparagus purée.

Thoroughly butter eight individual soufflé dishes and divide the onion equally between them. Beat the yolks with a pinch of salt and add them to the asparagus mix. Whisk the egg-whites until they are thick and fold them into the asparagus, gently and thoroughly. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190C. Divide the mixture between the soufflé` dishes and bake them for half an hour.