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Asparagus "en petit pois"

Name: Asparagus "en petit pois"
Prep time: 6 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 17 min
Yield: 4 people
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 800 g Asparagus; 30 g butter; 100 ml vegetable stock; 100 ml liquid cream; 2 egg yolks; 2 pinches grated nutmeg; Chives; Salt; Pepper

As the name suggests, this historic recipe (see below for more details) treats asparagus like peas, Napoleonic French style: first cooked the usual way, then cut small (to look like peas), cooked again in stock, and finished with a cream and egg yolk sauce.

56 K 3.7/5 (7 reviews)555601

Duration

20 min.

Difficulty

Easy

Last modified on: June 6^th 2026

Step by step recipe Ingredients Duration Nutritional facts Cost Comments Support the site ❤️

For 4 people, you will need:

1 800 g Asparagus
2 30 g butter
3 100 ml vegetable stock
4 100 ml liquid cream
5 2 egg yolks
6 2 pinches grated nutmeg
7 Chives
8 Salt
9 Pepper
Total weight: 1,070 grams

Times for this recipe

Preparation

6 min.

Cooking

15 min.

All in all

20 min.

Preparation 6 min.

Cooking 15 min.

When should you start or finish this recipe?

If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time

To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe

Stage 1

Prepare 800 g Asparagus.

Stage 2 - ⌛ 5 min.

Cut the asparagus into small pieces the size of peas (obviously).

Stage 3

Prepare all the asparagus like this, transferring the cut pieces onto a cloth to dry.

Stage 4 - ⌛ 3 min.

Put a large saucepan on medium heat and melt 30 g butter.

When hot, add the asparagus, salt, pepper and mix well.

Stage 5 - ⌛ 4 min.

Add 100 ml vegetable stock and leave to simmer until the stock had almost completely evaporated.

Stage 6 - ⌛ 1 min.

Add i100 ml liquid cream and 2 egg yolks. Mix well.

Stage 7 - ⌛ 4 min.

Leave on low heat to thicken gently.

Stage 8

Serve in small individual dishes.

Remarks

You can use chicken stock instead of the vegetable stock.

This recipe takes its inspiration from Jean-Claude Brisville's play "Le Souper " (The Supper), which shows a supper – possibly imagined – shared by Fouché (Napoleon's chief of police) and Talleyrand (Napoleon's crafty chief diplomat) on the eve of the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815.

Talleyrand is hosting in sumptuous style, his personal cook Antonin Carème is in the kitchen, and among the dishes on the menu is "Asperges en petits pois", for which he gives Fouché the recipe, saying it comes from a certain Monsieur de Cussy (Chief Steward of the imperial household under Napoleon, then under Louis XVIII).
It's a terrific historical drama (you can watch an extract here and test your French!), which was later made into an excellent film.

And to drink?

I suggest a nice Valençay, either white or red, whichever you prefer, to enter properly into the spirit of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, known simply as Talleyrand.

Keeping: Should be eaten immediately.

Source: Home made, based on Jean-Claude Brisville's play "Le Souper".

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Nutritional information

	Proteins	Carbohydrates	Fats	Calories	Energy
Per 100 g	3 g RDI=5 %	7 g RDI=3 %	9 g RDI=13 %	85 kcal RDI=4 %	357 kJ RDI=4 %
Per person	9 g RDI=14 %	20 g RDI=8 %	25 g RDI=34 %	228 kcal RDI=11 %	955 kJ RDI=11 %
Whole recipe	37 g RDI=57 %	82 g RDI=31 %	100 g RDI=137 %	912 kcal RDI=46 %	3,821 kJ RDI=46 %