Consomme with asparagus

Peel, rinse and dry all the vegetables necessary for consomme. Finely chop the leek, carrots and tomatoes are also cut into pieces. Rinse the greens and tear them. Then put all the vegetables in a large saucepan and pour beef broth. Put ground beef in a saucepan, mix.

Also pour the egg white into a saucepan with broth, minced meat and vegetables, mix again.

Put the pan on the stove and bring the contents to a boil over medium heat. Mix all the products thoroughly again. Make sure that the egg white does not settle at the bottom of the pan, but is evenly mixed in the beef broth. As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to a minimum, cover the pan with a lid and cook the broth with vegetables and minced meat for 45 minutes. During this time, the egg white will gather in a dense layer at the top of the broth and a hole will form in its center, through which the liquid will "gurgle". The protein will remove all the fat from the broth and clean it, as a result of which the consomme will become transparent.

After the specified time, remove the pan from the heat. Carefully remove the protein part from the surface of the broth. Pass the rest of the broth through cheesecloth or a coffee filter to clear the pieces of vegetables and minced meat. The result should be a clean transparent beef consomme. In the finished consomme, add ground black pepper to taste.

While the broth is cooking, cook the asparagus. Green asparagus must first be cleaned and rinsed. Then pour clean water into a saucepan, salt it to taste and add a little lemon juice. Put the pan on the fire and bring the water to a boil. Next, throw the asparagus stalks into boiling water and cook them for 6-8 minutes from the moment the water boils. The readiness of asparagus can be checked by piercing its stem with a toothpick (it should be easily pierced). Put the finished asparagus on a sieve or colander and drain the hot water, otherwise it can be digested.

Put boiled asparagus in a ready-made hot consomme and garnish with herbs. Traditionally, consomme is served with dumplings (you can add it at will or serve consomme simply with crisp fresh bread).

Bon appetit!