This recipe for Asparagus and Tahini Veloute comes from my friend Christine Capendale. Christine and I worked together on a tahini shoot for Food and Home Entertaining Magazine a while back and I have been wanting to share this recipe ever since. It is served with Pickled Asparagus and a Sesame Brittle to double up on the asparagus and sesame flavours and textures.

As it is summer in Cape Town, fresh asparagus is still available and this soup is a wonderful way to use the vegetable and enjoy our summer season.

Tahini is a condiment made from toasted sesame seeds and is an ingredient in hummus (what can be better than hummus), baba ghanoush and halva. Mostly used in Middle Eastern, North African, Mediterranean cuisines it has become quite a trendy ingredient outside of those cuisines and is much more readily available these days. I guess we should partly thank Ottolenghi and his books for that!

The tahini adds a nutty depth to the smooth asparagus soup and it is delicious taste combination. The pickled asparagus adds that bit of fresh acidity and the sesame brittle adds a wonderful sweet nutty crunch. The recipe is super easy to make with the only tricky part is making the brittle but definitely worth it. Over and above I love the soft green colour of the soup and I think it such a great way to enjoy summer.

Christine is a powerhouse of a cook and baker and have a beautiful book coming in the middle of Feb. It is called “Meals – Effortless Food for Every Occasion” and I was lucky enough to have seen a preview and it is certainly a keeper. So do keep an eye on the bookshelves for it.

I hope you enjoy this recipe for Asparagus and Tahini Veloute. If you’ve made the recipe share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred.

Asparagus and Tahini Veloute

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Ingredients

250 g fresh green asparagus chopped
2 small onions or shallots – sliced
60 g butter
1 garlic clove crushed
20 ml chopped fresh thyme
30 ml flour
150 ml milk
350 ml vegetable or chicken stock
200 ml cream
100 ml tahini
Salt and black pepper for seasoning
PICKLED ASPARAGUS
6- 10 asparagus spears
10 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
10 ml olive oil
SESAME SEED BRITTLE
This makes too much but keep some in a sealed container or serve it as a snack
100 g castor sugar
50 ml water
60 g sesame seeds

Instructions

Add the chopped asparagus, onion, thyme, garlic and butter in a saucepan and sweat
Add the flour, stir well and add the milk and stock whilst stirring
Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes). Stir in the cream and tahini and cool
Pour the soup into a blender and liquidize. Press through a sieve.
Taste and adjust the seasoning
Serve the soup warm or cold, topped with the pickled asparagus and sesame brittle
PICKLED ASPARAGUS
Slice the asparagus spears thinly diagonally and keep the tips intact
Add the lemon juice and olive oil
Toss well and let it stand for a few hours to pickle
SESAME SEED BRITTLE
Place the sugar and the water in a saucepan on medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar.
DO NOT STIR ANYMORE and allow the sugar syrup to boil until it becomes a light golden colour. Add the sesame seeds and swirl the saucepan around a bit so that the seeds get coated but do not stir!
Continue to cook until it becomes a dark golden colour.
Pour out onto a silpat and use a palette knife to spread it out thinly.
Cool completely and bread into shards
Recipe by Christine Capendale