One of my best French recipe ideas for asparagus. This Asparagus Clafoutis is a gourmet dinner recipe plus a light summer supper. Baked until fluffy, this is served with a creamy parmesan sauce for a perfect match. Just add the French baguette.
This dish is a favorite in our household — I use it as an elegant side dish, or a light main course with a salad. The Parmesan sauce is the best accompaniment!
David
Savoury French Clafoutis
Our family is totally mad about French Clafoutis every summer. It's also my Corsican mother-in-law's go-to classic dark cherry dessert - and just as delicious made with fresh raspberries - or my latest fruity craze, a versatile gluten free version with strawberries, blueberries & lemon, or with apricots and lavender. Made with apples or pears, however, it's called a flaugnarde, as it has a different texture. But I digress.
A savoury clafoutis is so tendance: it's becoming increasingly popular in French traiteurs (delicatessens) - even our local boucherie (butcher shop) has a clafoutis with cherry tomatoes and courgettes. It's like a quiche without the pastry.
This savoury clafoutis is an interesting way to serve asparagus; it's so light as a starter (appetizer) or for a light lunch.
Asparagus Dinner Recipes: Inspiration
You may recall I tried out this gorgeous custardy White Asparagus & Lemon Clafoutis recipe, adapted and inspired by Chef Eric Frechon from the Bristol in Paris. Served in one big dish, I added lemon to it. The association of lemon with the parmesan (inside the Clafoutis) and asparagus is a match in heaven.
Then I made individual clafoutis, serving them out of muffin moulds. Oh so chic!
What Goes Well with Asparagus?
While asparagus goes well with the lemon above, this asparagus clafoutis is baked without the lemon. Instead, it's served in a pool of the most silky, creamy parmesan sauce. Try asparagus and parmesan together - it's a heavenly match.
The parmesan sauce is perfect for mopping up with a crusty baguette. Did you know there's a French phrase for that? It's called 'saucer', the French verb to mop up delicious sauces with bread.
The addition of a parmesan sauce with an asparagus clafoutis just takes it to another level! It's so good, you may decide to double the quantity.
How to Prepare & Cook Asparagus
This time last year, I was kindly invited to take part in a pilot run for Parisian cookery classes with Chef Philippe Excoffier in Paris's 7th arrondissement, where I wrote up an article about the delicious experience. It's where the chef serves his legendary cheese soufflés, Soufflés Suissesse. I strongly recommend trying out this signature dish in his restaurant in rue de l'Exposition, near the Eiffel Tower.
Chef Excoffier showed us how to prepare asparagus and how long to cook it:
- First snap off or trim the asparagus bottoms (about ¼ of the way up, where they break naturally. No more than that) - this is the part of asparagus we do no eat as it's woody;
- Remove the pedoncules or spikes to make digestion easier;
- Bring well-salted water to a rolling boil and cook the asparagus for only 3 minutes;
- Immediately remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into cold water (ideally with ice) to stop the cooking process.
To see much more about how to prepare and cook,
see the Market Asparagus Page.
Difference Between A Soufflé and a Savoury Clafoutis
Both classic French recipes are eggy. While the Clafoutis is not exactly the most stylish looking dish when served, it's not to be confused with the soufflé.
Made with a béchamel and mounted egg whites, the soufflé stays upright and puffy.
The much easier clafoutis doesn't need the same kind of rigorous preparation as a soufflé. However, it falls back down after cooling from the oven - but there's nothing to worry about when that happens: it's totally normal and as it should be! The taste is just as delicious.
Please don't cut corners in this recipe. It's so important to blend the asparagus to a purée to add to the batter. This makes the clafoutis moist. Just adding the asparagus as is completely changes the recipe and the result is dry. So blitz them!
Chef Excoffier added a parmesan sauce to his Parisian soufflés and served them with asparagus on the side. The flavours together are divine!
So this recipe is a mixture of admiration of ideas from both chefs, by adding a parmesan sauce.
Asparagus Clafoutis with Parmesan Sauce
Ingredients
- 500 g (1 lb) fresh asparagus (2 bunches)
- 3 eggs organic
- 2 egg yolks organic
- 15 g (1 tbsp) all-purpose flour (or ½ tablespoon cornflour to make this gluten-free)
- 115 ml (4 floz/ ½ cup) half-fat single cream (I use 12% fat cream)
- 55 g (2oz/ ⅔ cup) matured parmesan cheese finely grated
- good pinch each salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan Sauce
- 55 g (2oz/ 4 tbsp) matured parmesan cheese finely grated
- 140 ml (5 fl oz / ¼ pint) half-fat single cream
- good pinch each ground nutmeg, salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/360°F/160°C fan/Gas 4. Prepare 4 ramekin oven dishes (or 6 muffin moulds) by greasing them well with softened butter.
Snap the asparagus spears about ¼ off the bottom, where they break naturally. Peel or scrape them as close as possible to the spear heads then cut the spears into 3. - Fill a large pan with water and bring to a rolling boil. Add a generous heaped teaspoon of salt to the cooking water. Prepare a large bowl of (preferably iced) cold water.
- Cook the asparagus for 3 minutes (no more than 4 minutes if they're more chunky). Remove with a slotted spoon and immediately transfer to the cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Prepare the clafoutis batter: beat the eggs, yolks, grated parmesan, flour and season with salt and pepper.
- Drain the asparagus, setting aside a spear top per person for the decor and one spear top each for the clafoutis. Place the rest of the asparagus in a food processor and mix to a purée with some of the batter.
- Stir in the puréed asparagus to the rest of the batter. Pour into the individual buttered ramekin dishes/muffin moulds, placing a spear top in each. Alternatively, pour into one buttered ovenproof dish, throwing in the rest of the spears. Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes (35 mins for a large clafoutis).
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes, then using a sharp knife, release the clafoutis from around the edges and place directly on the serving plates.
For the Parmesan Sauce:
- Bring the cream to the boil, adding some salt, pepper and a pinch of ground nutmeg. Add the parmesan then beat together well until smooth with a balloon whisk. Serve immediately around each clafoutis.
David Scott Allen
This dish is a favorite in our household — I use it as an elegant side dish, or a light main course with a salad. The Parmesan sauce is the best accompaniment!
Jill Colonna
I want to be a guest chez vous, David! This as an elegant side just has me begging for an invitation!
Agreed on that parmesan sauce - it's not the same without it. Thanks x
sherry
how delicious Jill. i love a good savoury dish, and this looks superb. i love asparagus of whatever kind.
cheers
sherry
Jill Colonna
Thrilled to hear this, Sherry - thanks!
Christina Conte
Oh goodness, I must be very strange as I dislike green asparagus, but discovered that I really like the white one a few years ago. Unfortunately, I've only seen it here in LA once and it was ridiculously priced. Love these savoury clafoutis, Jill and the Parmesan sauce is delectable! Thanks for another fabulous recipe AND great video! 🙂 You're a natural!
Jill Colonna
Yes, white asparagus is incredibly juicy, isn't it? Both make this clafoutis so different yet that parmesan sauce go insanely well with either. Thanks for your lovely words as ever, Christina x
Betty
Jill, so happy you published this, as we tried it and loved it! In fact, you might not have seen it, but I did a miniature version of it for my newest blog post! When you recommended to use a silicone mold, I remembered that I had bought a silicone chocolate mold a few months ago and it worked just perfectly! I will tell you that we couldn't eat all that I had made and of course, we refrigerated the leftovers. We are having heatwave here right now and only want to eat cold food and I have to say that these clafoutis are actually really delicious served cold as well (without the parmesan sauce), with some of the crusty bread you recommend! Excellent recipe and so honored to make it for my Teeny Tea!!
Jill Colonna
Dearest Betty,
What a most imaginative, magical post you created. Thank you so much for sharing the asparagus clafoutis and parmesan sauce. Imagine you recreating this so cleverly as a miniature? Hats off to you! And waving back to Mrs Tiggy Winkle. Feel that I've sat down to tea in a wee, magical world.
Betty
Just coming back to leave a follow-up comment about this delicious recipe! The second time making it was to accompany your Smoked Tea Beurre Blanc Salmon and what a lovely combination it makes. Very rich and elegant. I found I did not buy enough asparagus for the entire recipe, but reduced all the other ingredients by a bit and it was very forgiving and still turned out absolutely delicious. As I mentioned above, the leftovers are just as yummy, eaten the next day for luncheon with some crusty bread. In fact, I can see making this in the summer as a picnic dish, taken in a small cooler. Lovely!
Jill Colonna
Thanks so much for getting back to me after making the recipe, Betty. So delighted you love this too. We adore it in summer - great idea on the picnic - and so honoured you made it at Christmas time. Have a most delicious New Year!
Mimi
Well, I'm stunned that people who like green asparagus don't like white asparagus!!! I can't get the white variety where I live, but whenever I'm in Europe in the springtime i practically order it at every meal! This version is beautiful.
Jill Colonna
Totally agree with you Mimi - I guess we're not all alike. No wonder you get your fill of white asparagus when you're here!
Elke Gausepohl
Fantastique!
I‘ll prepare it tomorrow and I am sure that it tastes like it looks like on your pictures!
Jill Colonna
So happy to hear you're making it this weekend, Elke. Greetings to all the family in Germany!
Liz
Ooh, a clafoutis that even Bill will love! So yummy!!!
Jill Colonna
Liz, that's music to my ears. Enjoy this with Bill.
Victor
My wife, Betty, follows you on twitter and instagram. We love your posts and recipes....and your stories of France !
Jill Colonna
So thrilled to hear such lovely, motivating words, Victor. It's a real pleasure!
Thomasina
This savoury Clafoutis looks scrumptious Jill. I love asparagus, white or green and it's sometimes boring on its own with only the sauce as an accompaniment. Good idea to have lemon zest with the white. Thanks also for the wine suggestions.
Jill Colonna
Thanks so much, Thomasina. Hope you try either version, as it's a lovely change, as you say, to asparagus on its own with sauce (even although I love that, too!)
Jean-Pierre D.
LOVE this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. It's definitely a keeper.
Jill Colonna
So thrilled you've already tried it! Thanks for popping in.