Asparagus Au Gratin with Mornay Sauce

1. The basis of a Mornay sauce is the classic hollandaise sauce. To do this, first bring the white wine with the roughly chopped shallot, bay leaf, salt and allspice to a boil and reduce it to about half. Then pour through a fine sieve and let cool down a little. The next step is to clarify the butter. This is brought to melt in a pot or pan. Make sure that it does not turn brown, so use the heat reduced. Let it cool down a bit and put it in a freezer bag that is held across the corner. The whey and protein settle in the tip. Now prepare two containers, cut off a small corner and pour the whey into one and the butter into the other. The egg yolks with the white wine reduction are whipped on the water bath. The professional uses a whisk for this, but the hand mixer works at least as well if you don’t have the practice. It is important to stir as quickly and evenly as possible to prevent the egg yolk from sticking. As soon as a slightly creamy consistency has arisen, the clarified butter is added. At first drop by drop, later in a thin stream, the butter is stirred into the egg mixture. It is very important to never stop stirring so that the ingredients can combine to form a homogeneous sauce. Finally, season the sauce with salt and lemon juice and, if necessary, a few splashes of Worchester sauce.

Cooking asparagus

1. The asparagus is peeled carefully, the ends are best broken off, not cut. This will remove the woody part (if there is one) all by itself. Briefly bring to the boil in a saucepan with plenty of water, salt, lemon juice and sugar and then simmer covered for about 15-20 minutes. Don’t let it get too soft, the asparagus still has to go into the oven. Then drain well and divide in such a way that four even servings of asparagus are created

Au gratin

1. Wrap the divided asparagus with two slices of prosciutto (or other cooked ham) and place in an ovenproof baking dish. Avoid stacking them on top of each other if possible. Coarsely grate the mountain cheese, stir into the hollandaise sauce and pour over the asparagus packets. Gratinate at at least 220 ° C under the grill or top heat until the sauce is slightly browned. In addition, new potatoes or a fresh baguette taste good appetite