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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.

slice of golden quiche without pastry with white asparagus sticking out

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.

mini baked asparagus custard with parmesan sauce

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!

asparagus clafoutis with parmesan sauce basil top

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

Jill Colonna

A perfect elegant yet simple dinner starter or light summer lunch. Serve with a crusty baguette to mop up the most silky creamy parmesan sauce. The sauce quantity is good for individual portions but if making this as one big family size, I'd double the sauce quantity.

5 from 10 votes

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 25

Total Time 55

Course Appetizer, Brunch, Light Lunch, Starter, Supper

Cuisine French

Servings 4 people

Calories 395 kcal

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.

Video

Notes

Decorate with an asparagus spear, a basil top or edible flowers. Also delicious with smoked salmon. Serve with a crusty French baguette.

I used 4 ramekin dishes but regular muffin moulds also work well, including briochette silicone moulds (makes 6 smaller portions).

Wine Suggestions: Serve with a fruity white wine - such as a Voignier (Condrieu a real treat!), a dry Muscat or Riesling from Alsace, or Chenin from the Loire (Savennières).

Keyword asparagus dinner recipe, asparagus gourmet recipes, french asparagus recipe, savoury clafoutis recipe, unique asparagus recipe

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