Ingredients
unsalted butter
60g
lemon
1
thyme sprigs
2
sea salt and black pepper
British asparagus
1 bunch
wild garlic leaves
1 handful
eggs
2-3
sourdough
1 thick slice
toasted almonds
1 small handful
extra-virgin olive oil
This is the sort of thing I wait all year for – asparagus that’s thick, sweet, grassy and cooked so it takes on colour but keeps its bite. The rest is about contrast: nutty brown butter, sharp lemon, a fried egg with crisp edges, crumbs to catch the yolk. We do a similar dish at Mountain, where we cook the asparagus on a plancha and serve with a slow-cooked egg yolk. This version will work well at home.
Serves
2-3
| Time15 mins
unsalted butter
60g
lemon
1
thyme sprigs
2
sea salt and black pepper
British asparagus
1 bunch
wild garlic leaves
1 handful
eggs
2-3
sourdough
1 thick slice
toasted almonds
1 small handful
extra-virgin olive oil
Serves
2-3
| Time15 mins
Method
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Let it foam and settle, then cook until deep hazelnut brown and smelling sweet. Take it off the heat. Add thyme, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Let it sit, warm and fragrant.
Tear the sourdough into rough pieces and pulse in a food processor, or chop into coarse crumbs. Toast in olive oil in a pan until golden and crisp. Season lightly. Crush the toasted nuts, roughly not finely.
Trim the ends from the asparagus. Heat the grill or cast-iron pan to hot. Dress the asparagus lightly with olive oil and salt. Place it in the pan and leave on one side for 2 minutes, then turn and grill for 2-3 minutes on the other side. You want blistered tips and dark stripes, but still to have a snap inside.
While the asparagus is hot, toss through the wild garlic so it just wilts. Finely grate lemon zest directly over the asparagus while it’s warm – it will bloom in the heat and perfume the smoke.
Heat a heavy pan until it’s almost smoking. Add a generous amount of olive oil. Crack in the eggs and then leave them alone. Let them fry so the edges should frill and crisp deeply and the yolks set on the bottom but remain soft on top. Season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Lay the asparagus on warm plates. Spoon over the brown butter, then scatter with the toasted crumbs and crushed nuts and slide the egg over the top. Finish with more zest, a final squeeze of juice, cracked pepper and a thread of olive oil. When you eat it, break the yolk so it runs into the crumbs and butter.
Ingredients
unsalted butter
60g
lemon
1
thyme sprigs
2
sea salt and black pepper
British asparagus
1 bunch
wild garlic leaves
1 handful
eggs
2-3
sourdough
1 thick slice
toasted almonds
1 small handful
extra-virgin olive oil
Method
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Let it foam and settle, then cook until deep hazelnut brown and smelling sweet. Take it off the heat. Add thyme, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Let it sit, warm and fragrant.
Tear the sourdough into rough pieces and pulse in a food processor, or chop into coarse crumbs. Toast in olive oil in a pan until golden and crisp. Season lightly. Crush the toasted nuts, roughly not finely.
Trim the ends from the asparagus. Heat the grill or cast-iron pan to hot. Dress the asparagus lightly with olive oil and salt. Place it in the pan and leave on one side for 2 minutes, then turn and grill for 2-3 minutes on the other side. You want blistered tips and dark stripes, but still to have a snap inside.
While the asparagus is hot, toss through the wild garlic so it just wilts. Finely grate lemon zest directly over the asparagus while it’s warm – it will bloom in the heat and perfume the smoke.
Heat a heavy pan until it’s almost smoking. Add a generous amount of olive oil. Crack in the eggs and then leave them alone. Let them fry so the edges should frill and crisp deeply and the yolks set on the bottom but remain soft on top. Season well with sea salt and black pepper.
Lay the asparagus on warm plates. Spoon over the brown butter, then scatter with the toasted crumbs and crushed nuts and slide the egg over the top. Finish with more zest, a final squeeze of juice, cracked pepper and a thread of olive oil. When you eat it, break the yolk so it runs into the crumbs and butter.