Asparagus with veal fillet and spring morels

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 kg asparagus, white, fresh
• 100 g butter, cold, preferably sweet cream butter
• 40 ml white wine
• 1 tbsp crème fraîche
• 50 ml cream
• 400 g veal fillet(s)
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 100 g morels, fresh or dried, then only 35 g
• 1 tbsp butter
• salt and pepper
• 1 liter of water
• 1 handful of herbs (spring herbs of your choice), without stems, roughly chopped
• 4 potatoes (spring potatoes), new harvest, possibly

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

spring-like starter or main course as desired

Wash and peel the asparagus, and trim 1 cm of the ends. Simmer the peels in the water for 15 minutes, strain, and collect the asparagus stock. Discard the peels. Sort out 2 stalks, quarter them, and sweat them in 1 tablespoon of the butter until not too hot. After 2 minutes, add the wine and 100 ml of the asparagus stock. Simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes until soft. The liquid should reduce by at least 1/3. Add the crème fraîche and cream, reduce briefly again, and then puree with a hand blender. Finally, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Gently heat the olive oil in a pan, toss the thyme and rosemary in it for 2 minutes, then carefully sear the fillet on all sides for 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and place in the pan in a preheated oven at 120°C for 20-25 minutes, turning frequently. Remove from the pan, wrap in aluminum foil, and let rest for 5 minutes in the now switched off, open oven. During this time, cook the asparagus in the remaining, now lightly salted, asparagus stock for 10 minutes until crisp. At the same time, carefully clean the morels (fresh ones are trimmed at the stems) in lukewarm water, pat dry, and dry in a salad spinner if necessary. If you can’t get fresh morels, soak the dried ones in lukewarm water for 30 minutes and then dry. Briefly sauté in butter, season with salt and pepper. Cut the drained asparagus into 3-4 pieces and mix with the morels, then divide between plates. Quickly heat the prepared sauce, whisk until fluffy with a hand blender, and while still still boiling, add the cold butter. Season to taste and serve in portions over the asparagus and morel mixture. Cut the fillet into 4 slices and place the two outer ends on top, pink side up. The two middle slices will be pink on both sides. Garnish with spring herbs, if desired. If you increase all the quantities by a little more than half, or even double, you’ll have a main course. I recommend adding one spring potato, cut into eighths, to each portion, also cooked in the asparagus stock, but cooked 3-4 minutes longer than the asparagus itself.