Asparagus-Parmesan Flan with White Wine Sauce

For the flan: Peel the green asparagus, cut off the woody ends and place the ends and peels in a pot. Cover with water, add the lemon juice, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Strain to stock into a clean pot. Cut the asparagus into pieces and cook in the stock until tender. The white asparagus will take around 20 minutes and the green will take about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, purée, strain through a sieve and let cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (approximately 350°F).

Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg yolks with the cheese and cream then fold into the asparagus purée and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, if desired. Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold in. Grease individual flan dishes with butter, fill with custard, place in a roasting pan, add enough water to come around 2/3 of the way up the sides of the flan dishes and bake for about 30 minutes.

For the sauce: Squeeze the juice from the orange. Melt the butter and skim off the foam. Bring the wine and vinegar to a boil down to around 2/3 the original volume. Let cool slightly, transfer to a heatproof bowl and whisk in the egg yolks. Beat until creamy over a hot water bath. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the butter, drop by drop at first then in a thin steady stream. Season with the blood orange juice, salt and pepper.

Invert the flan onto serving plates and spoon the sauce on the plate.