Slow cooked fillet of veal, pine nut purée, white asparagus and macaroni

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Adam Simmond's dish is a delicious combination of tender veal with homemade pasta and a rich velvety sauce. Ask your butcher for veal belly. You will need to start this recipe the day before serving this challenging recipe, so leave yourself good time for the meat to salt and cook in the waterbath.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Confit veal belly

Pasta

Pine nut purée

White asparagus tips

  • 8 asparagus spears, white, broken at its natural line and ends of tips peeled
  • salt to taste
  • 1.5l water

Raw white asparagus slices

Trompettes

Veal sauce

  • 1000g of veal shoulder, diced
  • 125ml of grapeseed oil
  • 250g of butter
  • 200ml of white wine, reduced by 130ml
  • 1000ml of brown chicken stock
  • 1000ml of white chicken stock
  • 375g of mushrooms, finely sliced
  • 200g of shallots, finely sliced

To plate

  • 1 kidney
  • 1 knob of butter
  • hairy bittercress

Equipment

  • Hand blender
  • Fine sieve
  • Mandoline
  • Water bath
  • Vac-pac bags

Method

1
For the asparagus tips, add the asparagus to a pan of boiling salted water and cook until soft and the bitterness has gone, then refresh in iced water. Slice the base in equal thickness until you are about 2cm from the top, keeping the top whole
2
For the confit veal belly, place the veal onto a tray and put into the freezer. When semi-frozen, remove from the freezer, then gently remove the membrane from both sides. Mix the salt and sugar together, sprinkle over the belly and leave to salt for 4 hours. Wash off thoroughly, vac pac the meat and cook at 60°C for 16 hours. Once cooked, shred into fine strands
3
For the pasta, start the day before, and add the salt and olive oil to the egg yolks. Mix well with a hand blender, then pass through a fine sieve. Put the flour in a mixer and add the egg mixture. Mix until incorporated. Divide into 2 batches. Knead well, ensuring the paste is of a smooth consistency
4
To make the macaroni, roll it out to 0.5mm, then cut into 3 inches strips in length, with the width of a ruler. Roll them up and cut in half so as to achieve a macaroni of 1 ½ inches
5
For the pine nut purée, crush the pine nuts in a pestle and mortar. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the nuts. Cook until soft. Once cooked, drain off the water and blend, adding water until the correct consistency is achieved
6
For the raw asparagus slices, using a mandolin, slice the asparagus about 2mm thick, lengthways. Lay onto a tray, lightly sprinkle with salt and leave for 2 minutes, then toss lightly
7
For the trompettes, wash and dry the trompettes. Place a small pan on the stove and add the butter. Add the trompettes and sauté lightly, then drain
8
For the veal sauce, in a frying pan, lightly caramelise the diced veal in hot oil. Once lightly browned, add the butter and continue to seal until golden brown then strain
9
In a large stainless steel pan, caramelise the shallots. When almost done, add the mushrooms and continue to cook until golden brown. When this is done, place both chicken stocks and white wine into a clean pan and bring to the boil. Add the mushroom mixture and ¾ of the meat and cook for 20 minutes. Pass through a sieve, reduce and add the remaining meat
  • 375g of mushrooms
  • 200g of shallots
  • 1000ml of brown chicken stock
  • 1000ml of white chicken stock
  • 200ml of white wine
10
To serve, make an oval with the pine nut purée, then place the white asparagus down the middle of the plate. Put the remaining garnish on and around the asparagus. Fry the kidney in foaming butter and then slice. Slice the veal and place on top. Finish the plates with a scattering of hairy bittercress, then pour over the sauce
  • 1 kidney
  • 1 knob of butter
  • hairy bittercress

Beneath the surface of Adam Simmond’s dishes is highly original, thoughtful cooking.

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