Asparagus with Soft Boiled Eggs - Asparagi con Uova

With some super, extra loving care, we managed to get a few bunches of English Asparagus back to Venice. The free range eggs are from a friend, who owns a little farm on the island of Sant Erasmo. I NEVER boil my Asparagus, I like to place them into a wide pan and use a reduction method... the BESTEST way to cook most vegetables, you do not lose any of their nutrients... read on and learn!

You will need:

E. V. Olive Oil

Butter

1-2 thinly sliced Onions

1-2 bunches of Asparagus

2-3 free range Eggs

some slivers of Parmigiano Cheese

salt and freshly ground pepper

I never do the “just bend the Asparagus and it will break at the right place” ABSOLUTE RUBBISH! You can kind of see where you need to cut away the stem, it is normally quite hard. Then using a peeler, peel the end of each Asparagus, removing the hard outer fibers.

Place a large wide pan on the stove, melt the oil and the butter. Add the onions and allow to get quite soft, this should take about 5 – 10 minutes. I also like to add a little water. 

Add the Asparagus... a little salt, and about a finger or so of water. Cover with a lid and allow to cook until the Asparagus becomes soft or until still quite crunchy, this is up to you, and until most of the liquid has evaporated.

In another pot, boil a few eggs, just until they are softly boiled through. Remove and cut in half.

Plate it all up, place the cooked Asparagus, the onions, the softly boiled eggs, the slivers of parmigiano, drizzle with the exquisite juice from the pan and some freshly ground pepper.

Some warm grilled ciabatta bread on the side and a think SPRINGTIME.