93


Bread and Asparagus Pudding
 
Contributed by Leslie Borden
Adapted from La Cucina Bolognese, by Monica Cesari Sarroni and Alessandro Molinari Pradelli
I bought this book in Bologna, on the way back to the hotel from our first dinner in the city – at Ristorante Diana, Via Indipendenzia 24, where Rob said “the tortellini brought me to my knees” – because I was so bowled over by the food that I had to have an authentic local cookbook. The fact that I didn’t, um, actually read Italian at the time was of no consequence, as the madness was upon me (I bought an English-Italian dictionary when I got home).
This is a nice little dish, somewhere between a custard, a soufflé, and a pudding. Not being a true soufflé, it’s very forgiving. The bread gives it a firmer texture, but it’s not tough.
Makes 12 small (4-oz.) ramekins as a side dish or 6 larger (8-oz.) for nice first course.
Ingredients:
• 1.2 kg. (2.65 lb.) green asparagus
• 100 gr. (3 ½ oz.) grated parmigiano reggiano (parmesan) cheese
• Buy the cheese whole and grate it yourself, it’ll be much better.  And don’t buy the stuff in the green can, it’s basically cheese flavored sawdust.
• 200 gr. (7 oz.) soft bread, crusts removed – not sourdough
• ½ - ¾  c. milk
• 4 “large” eggs
• freshly grated nutmeg
• fine dry bread crumbs
• salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
• 1. Crumble the bread into a bowl and pour the milk over it.  Let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes, then wring out the bread and discard any excess milk.
• 2. Snap off the tough ends of the asparagus, then rinse it.  Reserve 12 or 24 tips – these are to garnish the dish at the end. Steam or boil the rest of the asparagus till very tender, 5 – 6 minutes.  You want it softer than you would if you were just going to eat it.  Steam or briefly boil the reserved tips, about 3 – 3½ minutes and set them aside.
• 3. Puree the cooked asparagus in a food processor.  Add the eggs, bread crumb, parmigiano, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• 4. Butter six individual 8-oz. – or 12 4-oz – ramekins, then dust them with the dry bread crumbs. Pour in the asparagus mixture and put them in a hot water bath.  Bake at 350° F. for about 25 minutes – check at the 20-minute point if you’re using the smaller dishes, because they’ll cook faster.
• 5. Remove the ramekins from the water bath and let them rest for a few minutes, then turn out onto individual plates, or a serving platter, and serve garnished with the reserved asparagus tips.  You could serve this on a little pool of warmed cream and use shaved parmigiano as an additional garnish.  Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Note: It would also be interesting to separate the eggs, then whip the whites stiffly and fold them into the rest of the ingredients.