Asparagus Risotto with Fried Kale and Quail Egg

We are so honoured to share with our readers a guest post and recipe from our friend Jeremy Gaulin. His creations are not only delicious but unique, and sure to inspire your taste buds. We know you will love what he brings to the table, just as much as we do!

Asparagus Risotto with Fried Kale and Quail Egg on Celeriac Purée by Jeremy Gaulin

This dish is creamy, wholesome and is packed with delicious greens to keep it healthy. Risotto is the ideal hearty dish to prepare in winter and since I was cooking it for a Christmas Eve dinner, it was somewhat inspired by mistletoe. This recipe looks really complicated, but it's actually fairly simple and if you manage your time right, can be prepared in just about an hour.

Prep time: 15-20 min

Cooking time: 40-45 min

Recipe

Serves 4 as Main and 6 as Entrée

Asparagus Risotto

1 tbsp olive oil

1 large white onion (chopped)

1 cup arborio rice

Thyme (roughly 10 sprigs)

1 cup white wine or champagne (if we're feeling snazzy)

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup parmesan

10 asparagus stalks (chopped)

1 cup prosciutto (chopped)

Fried Kale and Quail Egg

1 head kale (torn)

1 quail egg per serving

1/4 tsp Salmon Roe

Celeriac Puree

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 Celery Root/ Celeriac (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup heavy cream  

For this recipe to be served hot and quick you'll need to prepare everything at the same time. Don't worry, I'll walk you through every step to pulling off this recipe without a hitch. 

Heat the tbsp Olive Oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cut the celery root into 4 and rinse it under cold water. If you have a unused green scrubby pad this works great to clean the dirt of root vegetables like celeriac, potatoes and carrots. Once the quarters are cleaned, peel them with a potato peeler and chop them into cubes, throw them into the saucepan. Mince your 3 cloves garlic and add it to the celeriac. Make sure to stir the the mixture to avoid any burnt pieces. After a minute of stirring fill the sauce pan with just enough water to cover the celeriac. Raise the heat to high until the water boils and then drop it to a simmer. With that in mind you can now leave the celeriac in the water for roughly 15 minutes, giving you time to prepare your risotto.

In a in a saucepan (3L or bigger) heat 1tbsp Olive Oil over medium heat. Peel and chop the White Onion and add it to the oil, stirring it until the onions become translucent. Take the sprigs of Thyme and add rub them over the pan activating the essential oils and making the leaves fall into the onions. Add the Arborio Rice and stir the mixture until it gives off a nutty aroma, roughly 30 seconds (Do NOT burn the rice). Pour in the White Wine and stir once more until the rice is fully coated in liquid. 

By now the Celeriac should be ready. Strain the contents of the saucepan through a colander and then add them back to the saucepan. 

Microwave the Butter and Cream together for 10-15 seconds until soft. Pour the mix over the celeriac and with a hand blender or potato masher, purée the contents of the sauce pan until lump free.

If using a potato masher, consider mashing the celeriac then adding more melted butter and putting the mix in a tabletop blender.

Put aside the Purée in a warm spot until you`re ready to plate your dish. At this point you`ll want to start adding Vegetable Stock 1/4 cup at a time to the risotto, making sure to mix well every time you add it. 

he trick to creamy risotto is making sure you slowly add your stock little bit by little bit so as not to starve the rice but also not drown it, the constant stirring will also help the starches seep out.  

While the risotto cooks, you can do further prep by filling a frying pan with roughly 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and heating it to medium-high heat. Cut your Asparagus Stalks nice and thin but leave the heads long and full. Chop the Prosciutto into small squares. If you have prosciutto available at the supermarket deli, ask them to cut you a slice of prosciutto double thickness, one slice will suffice for this recipe.

Don't neglect your risotto, constantly check on it and make sure it isn't drying out, show it some love and stir it often.

Tear apart the Heads of Kale into big chunks and toss them in the hot oil. Use tongs or a fork to mix them around so they fry fully. Take them out after 20-30 seconds a lay them on paper towel making sure to shake them dry. Pour out the oil and return the pan to heat.

By this time you should have gone through most of the vegetable stock and your risotto should be coming to a finish. Taste it and if there should still be a bit of bite to it. Grate the Parmesan directly over the risotto and stir in the Asparagus and Prosciutto. Add the Quail Eggs to the frying pan and give them a light fry. Quail eggs are the hardest eggs to fry so you might want to give this a test run before starting the recipe, just so you can get the hang of it. once slightly fried, take them off the pan and onto a plate to prevent them from further cooking (we want the yolks to be runny).

We're finally ready to plate. It was a lot of work but this is the best part... aside from eating it.

I spread the Celeriac purée across the bottom of the plate. For the risotto I used a tartare mold, but a crème brule ramekin would work the same. I filled the mold halfway with risotto, and the other half with fried kale. I then placed an egg on top and finished by garnishing the egg white with salmon roe.

The roe gave the yolk a fishy saltiness which complemented the crispy kale as yolk poured through it. The risotto was creamy and herbal with a tart crunch from the asparagus and salty smokiness from the prosciutto, and the garlic celeriac purée was like a warm ice cream, whose sweet velvety texture was the perfect finish to this savoury treat.     

Enjoy!