White Asparagus 2 ways

Asparagus, green or white. Very beautiful and royal vegetable, defining as a lily family. One of the top ingredients during the spring season.
White asparagus is more and more common, especially in Europe in months from april to june. I love them both, but today I present you White Asparagus 2 ways. Any of these recipes are perfect for brunch, big breakfast or fast week dinner. Impress yourself and have fun with it.

Total Time: 1 hour

Shopping List

500g of fresh white asparagus, peeled, washed and cracked at the endings
Sea salt

A knob of butter
1 small shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1 tablespoon of creamy cheese
10g of fresh yeast
Fresh chives to finish, tomatoes to serve it with
1 + 1 whole egg
1 tablespoon of vinegar
4 slices of quality ham
2 teaspoons of honey
4 slices of a quality toast bread

The Sauce Hollandaise:
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard
Splash of juice from lemon
50g of butter, melted
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

First, prepare the asparagus. Throw it all into a full deep pan of hot boiling salted water. Cook it for about 10 minutes until it is nicely soft.
Meanwhile, prepare The Sauce Hollandaise. Create a steam bath with a small deep pan of hot boiling water. Place an egg yolk above it and whisk for about 1 minute.

Then, stir in 1 teaspoon of Dijon Mustard and splash of lemon juice. Whisk constantly, so it stays nicely homogenous and smooth.
Start adding melted butter (few at a time). Whisk constantly until all is processed. Take off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Done.

Melt a knob of butter in a medium frying pan on high heat. Add shallot and mix for about 2 minutes until it softens. Then, melt the creamy cheese and sprinkle with yeast, just to smell it out.
Stir in one egg and season. Transfer the mix over the toast.

Take out the asparagus and let it rest for a while. Add one 1 tablespoon of vinegar into “the asparagus” salted water and create a twirl with a metal spoon. Gently place and egg into the middle and let it do the magic for about 2 minutes (depends of the egg temperature). Then take it out immediately.

The last thing, prepare the ham. Sprinkle little bit of honey on 1 side of the ham and place all slices onto frying pan (you can use the same one from the spread). One minute on high heat until it darkens, flip over and 1 minute from the other side. Done.

Wrap 2 slices of ham around some of the asparagus. Serve with the toast and spread. Finish with fresh chives and some extra asparagus.
Place 2 slices of ham on the other toast. Layer with asparagus and poached egg. Season with some ground black pepper. Sprinkle with good amount of The Sauce Hollandaise. Serve with fresh tomatoes and some extra asparagus. Enjoy with glass of white wine. So yummy and fulfilling.

Makes 2 serves.