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Our current Cook the Books Club selection is Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley¹. This was my first time not only choosing a graphic memoir (or novel) for our Club, but also reading one. I thoroughly enjoyed following Lucy's life adventures and her connection with various foods. The graphic medium lends itself nicely to Lucy's stories and the recipes ending the chapters come to life in her drawings.

I prepared mushrooms according to her mother's recipe (after Julia Child) and the result was excellent. While I will continue to bake chocolate-chunk cookies according to my recipe², Knisley's recipe inspired me to include some unsweetened coconut flakes: I liked the result. I didn't feel compelled to follow other recipes, but was inspired by her mother's garden bounty to prepare asparagus, whose season has recently started here.

I've always loved asparagus, and was delighted when my mother prepared them. She boiled them then dressed them with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette. She never veered from that recipe, while my father never failed to mention eating asparagi alla Bismarck when visiting Turin for work. I found the idea of a sunny-side up egg (uovo all'occhio di bue) on a bed of cooked asparagus quite appealing, but my my mother didn't share my view.

I have no idea how the dish became associated with the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. I know though that the Accademia Italiana della Cucina includes various recipes featuring asparagus and eggs, which tells me the combination is rooted in Italian food traditions.

In recent years, I've cooked asparagus many times, always in the oven, usually topped with sesame seeds (semi di sesamo). I somehow forgot my desire to eat asparagus with eggs until a recipe for asparagus cooked in a skillet in a recent Saveur newsletter³ made me want not only to try the method but also to finally put an egg on top.

The dish requires minimal preparation and a short cooking time. You can skip the cheese, if you'd like a lighter dish: the result is still excellent.

Print-friendly version of briciole's recipe for Skillet-cooked asparagus with eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 pound / 450 grams asparagus
• 1 tablespoon / 15 grams unsalted butter
• Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 ounce / 30 grams freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or other cheese of choice that melts well (I use locally made gouda)
• 1/2 tablespoon / 7 grams unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs from pastured poultry

Rinse the asparagus and snap off the fibrous bottoms.

Warm up a large (12-inch / 30-cm) cast-iron skillet on medium heat, then add the butter. When the foam subsides, add the asparagus to the skillet and shake it to coat the spears. Cover the skillet, turn down the heat to medium-low and cook the asparagus for about 3 minutes, then uncover and continue cooking until the asparagus is tender to the tip of a blade, 5 to 10 minutes (depending on the thickness and freshness of the asparagus).

When the asparagus is a few minutes from being ready, warm up a small skillet on medium heat, then add the butter and swirl it to coat the bottom. Gently break the eggs into the skillet, making sure they stay separate. Turn down the heat to low and cook until the white is set. The yolk should remain runny.

Sprinkle some sea salt and black pepper, to taste, on the asparagus. Sprinkle some sea salt on the eggs, if desired.

Divide the asparagus onto 2 plates, sprinkle half the cheese on each portion, then gently deposit one sunny-side up egg on the cheese. Serve immediately.

Makes 2 servings

I am fortunate to have access to eggs of excellent quality (from pastured poultry), so I can indulge in one of my favorite foods: a runny yolk over vegetables. A dish does not need to be complicated to be delicious.

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¹ The book's page on the author's website
² From briciole's archive: Brown butter chocolate chunk cookies
³ Recipe for Skillet asparagus in Saveur, adapted from Edna Lewis

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post

asparagi in padella con le uova

or launch the asparagi in padella con le uova [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems]

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This is my contribution to the current selection of our Cook the Books hosted by me, Simona of briciole. (You can find the guidelines for participating in the event on this page.)

The roundup of the event.

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FTC disclosure: I have received the table linen free of charge from the manufacturer (la FABBRICA del LINO). I have not and will not receive any monetary compensation for presenting it on my blog. The experience shared and the opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.

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asparagus, eggs, cheese

     

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