Pine Nut Roulade with Asparagus and Hollandaise

Well, after we came out of the restricted March offering, and had an article on Luxury on Wednesday, you could have been forgiven for expecting larks' tongues or lobster Thermidor this week. But before you start to complain, pause for a moment. Pine nuts are one of life's more expensive store cupboard ingredients and this recipe uses 175g of them. Hollandaise sauce still has a cachet about it, provided it's home made. One of the most exciting ingredients, the first of which I still await, is new season British asparagus. Tips only. They'll need to be cooked in advance. Don't let me catch you wasting one millimetre of the rest of it. Oh, and you need a dozen quail's eggs as well. So not too shabby.

I found this in a book by Rose Elliot. Still going strong at 80, she was a pioneer of vegetarian recipes, not as well known as she ought to be. She in turn got this recipe from Michael Smith.

As a regular reader, you know all about what to do with asparagus. Hollandaise may be your middle name by now. Remember the Eggs Benedict recipe from 2022. Rose doesn't specify the quantity, but her recipe uses 2 egg yolks, as does mine. She suggests using a lighter version. To do that, make the sauce as per the recipe, but whisk the 2 egg whites until stiff and fold into the sauce just before serving.

That leaves quail's eggs. We haven't previously featured these. Sourcing ready cooked ones isn't too hard. Most good delis and some supermarkets will stock them ready cooked. The only trouble is that they are real sods to peel. I would have advised doing this in water, then I came on this video on YouTube which is helpful. Dry the eggs before using.

You will need what Rose describes as a Swiss Roll tin, 33 x 23cm tin with a depth of 2 - 3cm. Grease it and line it with buttered greaseproof paper. The bakers among you will be familiar with this, in that you cut the paper so there is a 5cm overhang all round, and snip the corners diagonally so it fits neatly. Here is a useful video (though the tin in the video is deeper than the one I would use).

Ingredients

For the roulade

4 large eggs; 175g pine nuts, lightly crushed; butter and oil for greasing; s & p.

For the filling

Quantity of Hollandaise sauce (see above); 450g young cooked asparagus, tips only; 12 cooked quail's eggs, shelled and halved; 2tbsp snipped chives.

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Preheat the oven to 200°C/Mark 6. Grease and line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin with buttered greaseproof paper, letting it extend 5 cm above the edge of the tin and snipping diagonally into the corners. (See above.)

Whisk the eggs with salt and pepper until thick, fold in half of the pine nuts and pour the mixture into the tin, spreading evenly into the corners.

Bake near the top of the oven for 6-8 minutes, until firm in the middle.

Put a clean dampened tea towel onto a flat surface. Cover with a piece of greaseproof paper. Spread that evenly with the remaining pine nuts. Tip out the roulade onto the pine nuts and remove the lining paper.

Spread the roulade with all but 2 tbsp of the Hollandaise sauce. Arrange the asparagus tips (reserving six for the garnish), quail's eggs (reserving 3 halves) and chives on top.

Carefully roll up the roulade by folding one long side into the centre and the other on top. Place a large oiled piece of foil on top then turn the roulade upside down. Slide a baking sheet underneath it, and remove the cloth. Reheat, either immediately, or when required, still wrapped in foil at 190°C/Mark 5 for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the file and transfer the roulade to a heated serving plate. Spoon the reserved sauce down the centre and arrange the reserved asparagus tips and quails' eggs on top. Serve immediately.