It's not often a dessert recipe inspires a savory dish; it's usually the other way around, but this asparagus pie is a direct result of my love for cherry clafouti.
Cherry clafouti is a rustic French dessert that features whole cherries baked in a sweet egg batter. If you'd like, you can check out the clafouti video recipe I did last spring.
I've always thought the same batter, minus most of the sugar, would make a great base for a vegetable dish. Since I had a bunch of beautiful asparagus sitting on my cutting board, I decided to test my idea.It came together almost exactly as I had imagined. I love it when that happens. The simple batter formed a delicious, creamy, lightly browned crust around the buttery asparagus. The flavor was pure, the texture luxurious. Enjoy!
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tbsp butter, plus extra for the casserole dish
1/2 cup flour
3/4 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of fresh ground black pepper
1 tbsp lemon zest
