Ahhh once again the wonderful asparagus prosciutto-combination! I had both in my fridge from when I made my stuffed chicken rolls (recipe HERE)… yay, was so excited when I woke up this morn and saw them! Pondering all of the things I could create, I settled on this… alongside the mini potato pancakes I made this morn (click HERE to see). Pretty sure it’s safe to say this was our favorite breakfast of the week! Sooo delicate, light, and seriously scrumptious.
I’m a big fan of eggs benedict, but I always feel like I need to run like ten miles after eating it (not that I ever actually do). This too is a poached egg stack of goodness, but without the bread and sauce part. Same feel, just much much lighter! With a layer of asparagus on the bottom, some baked prosciutto layered over it (baked prosciutto is literally the best thing ever- a crispy salty heaven of wonderfulness), followed by a sprinkle of shredded sharp cheese and a poached egg- it’s simple, but sooo flavorful. The key is to make sure everything is cooked to your liking before stacking… the crisp asparagus, crunchy prosciutto, and the soft poached egg go so well together, and in this case, were cooked absolutely perfectly (for our liking anyway). May be our new house fave. If you’re like me and don’t eat a ton of red meat, just omit the prosciutto (or actually, just lessen it- come on, you have to have a little!). 😉
I was excited about this brecky already, but then I remembered that I’d just bought a new kitchen toy… metal pastry cutters (called ‘coppa pasta’ I guess- ‘shaper-dealies’ to me) and got super enthusiastic about getting to use them. Really I’m pathetically excited about these… I love shaping foods (dork)! In the past, I’ve just used jars, glasses, ramekins, or foil, but now I have these- real food shapers! So I used them with this, but if you don’t have them, don’t fret… you can either take the rustic route and just let the food sit as it wants (it will still be delicious) or create little shapers using foil. I made note of all of this in the recipe, too 🙂
Makes 2 stacks
INGREDIENTS
2 eggs
6 asparagus spears
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheese (I used extra sharp cheddar)
2 slices prosciutto
salt and pepper, to taste
drizzle olive oil & ghee/butter
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar for poaching- optional
{sidenote: I used foil when creating this recipe, however would omit the foil now and just use a baking sheet}
{sidenote: I used foil when creating this recipe, however would omit the foil now and just use a baking sheet}
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut off the ends of the asparagus (they are stringy and funky when cooked)
Place spears on foil and drizzle lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper
Toss to spread oil and salt
Put prosciutto on another little piece of foil (no oil or salt needed)
Place both in oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes,
until prosciutto is slightly crispy and asparagus is cooked
Meanwhile, poach eggs…
Heat about an inch of water in a nonstick pan (with 1/4 tsp vinegar if using)
Let come to a boil, then add eggs
(To prevent eggs from breaking, crack them in a
small dish first, then pour them into the water/pan from the dish)
I just got these metal shaper dealies, but if you don’t have ’em, don’t worry- I’ve never used them before and it’s been fine 🙂
(Alternatively, you can shape foil into rounds if you want)
Let cook for about 5-7 minutes,
depending on how you like your yolks (I like them medium)
Remove from pan and let sit until ready for stack-assembling
By this time, the asparagus and prosciutto should be done…
Remove from oven and place on work surface/cutting board
Using a “shaper dealie” or knife (cookie cutter works too),
cut the spears so that they are the same size as eggs
Do this twice to each spear so that you have 6 little pieces for each egg stack
Place the spears on top of each other (if you don’t have a shaper thingy,
you can fold foil into a thick strip and shape into a circle- this will hold
stack together well enough… you can also just not care how
neat they look and go for the rustic look- they will loosely
rest on top of each other and be just as delicious!!)
Then lay a piece of prosciutto over the asparagus (broken up into pieces)
Then top with half of the cheese
And then a poached egg
Sprinkle with a dash of salt and pepper
Move entire stack to a lightly buttered pan and
cook over medium heat for just a couple of minutes, to melt cheese and keep warm
To transfer stacks to/from pan, use a large spatula and slip under stack/shaper
Remove the shaper, top with any remaining asparagus spears (cut in half), and enjoy!!
