Spring Recipe: Asparagus and Goats Cheese
We’re celebrating new season asparagus with this winner of a Spring recipe, Wye Valley Asparagus and Rosary Goats Cheese. The perfect go-to for a dinner party over Easter weekend. Guaranteed rave reviews! Asparagus from @wyevalleyproduce and the rosary goats cheese mousse that we make from @rosarygoatscheese has the perfect sharpness to work with the delicate flavour of the asparagus.
We use Wye Valley produce because for asparagus, they’re arguably the very best in the country. Grown by fourth-generation farmers, they planted their first Asparagus crop in the Spring of 2003, and the Wye Valley brand has since expanded to include rhubarb, blueberries, fine beans and peas. The light, sandy soil and south-facing slopes of the meandering Wye Valley capture the earliest spring sunlight, and create a microclimate that is perfectly formed to produce some of the earliest, and the best, produce in the UK. The Asparagus is hand-harvested and hydro-cooled down to 2° C within the hour. This ensures that it retains maximum freshness and flavour when it’s harvested between March to July. Rosary Goats Cheese is a well-established producer of English goats cheese. Now with an online cheese shop to suit all your cheesy needs too!
We always encourage you to buy local produce for maximum flavour or from trusted, independent suppliers in the UK who specialise.
Ingredients
Serves 4
- 1 x 275g Rosary Goats Cheese plain log
- 16 medium spears Wye Valley asparagus
- 1 stick celery
- 100g crème fraîche
- 175g caster sugar
- 75g white wine
- 75g white wine vinegar
- 100g walnut halves
- 1 bunch rainbow radishes
- Oil for frying
- Drizzle of good quality herb-infused olive oil to finish
- Edible flowers to decorate (optional)
Method
1. Start by making the pickling liquor, put 75g of the caster sugar, all the white wine, all the vinegar and 75g of water in a small saucepan over a medium heat, bring to the boil then remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
2. Next, make the goats cheese mousse by crumbling the goat's cheese into the bowl of a blender, spoon in the crème fraîche plus a little salt to taste, blend on high until very smooth and check the seasoning, keep in a sealed container in the fridge until ready to use.
3. Heat the frying oil to 180 degrees. Put the walnuts and the rest of the sugar in a small saucepan along with 100g of cold water. Put on a medium heat and boil until the liquid temperature reaches 110 degrees, carefully drain off the syrup from the pan and drop the walnuts into the hot oil and fry until golden, drain off and season lightly with table salt, leave to cool.
4. Peel the stick of celery and slice on an angle into thin slices, then submerge in the cold pickling liquor and leave for 1 hour.
5. Trim the ends off of the asparagus and if you want to be fancy then trim and peel the bottoms of the asparagus all to equal heights. Put a pan of water on to boil with some salt, blanch the asparagus until just tender, then cool gently.
6. Wash and trim the radishes and cut any large ones into halves or quarters, store in water if not using immediately.
7. To plate, spread the cheese mousse in a neat circle on the bottom of the plate, arrange three asparagus spears per plate, then surround the rest of the garnish around the edge of the circle of mousse. Finish with a drizzle of good quality herb oil and edible flowers if you have them to make it look even more beautiful!
