Asparagus and egg plate

I passed by the stall at the market, and although I had no intention of buying asparagus, there they were — freshly picked, crisp, vibrant green — and just by looking, you could tell they were as fresh as fresh can be. I asked for une poignée, which ended up being slightly more than one person would usually eat, yet I allowed them to walk home with me. There, I turned them into the simplest and most delicious dinner plate. In the recipe, I use jambon cuit, but you can easily substitute it with prosciutto or any other ham — or leave it out entirely.

800g green asparagus
4 hard-boiled eggs (I use only the yolks)
finely chopped parsley
freshly ground pepper
pieces of jambon cuit or cured meat (optional)

sauce:
30ml extra virgin olive oil
30g butter
1 tsp chopped oregano (or thyme leaves)
1 garlic clove, grated
sea salt, to taste


In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil. Once boiling, add ⅓ tsp of salt and the asparagus. Boil for just 1–2 minutes — enough to retain their crispness. Lift out and immediately transfer to ice-cold water to stop the cooking and preserve the crunch. Leave to cool completely, then strain and gently pat everything dry (I use towels set aside especially for drying vegetables).

In a pan, combine all the sauce ingredients and warm over a low heat until it begins to bubble gently — around 3–4 minutes. Taste for salt. You can leave it on the lowest heat for a few more minutes to infuse, or remove it from the heat.

Arrange the asparagus on a serving plate, spoon the warm sauce over the top, trying to get the sauce over all of the asparagus, then crumble the egg yolks over everything. Sprinkle with pepper and parsley and serve.