You want an Easter Sunday breakfast to be a little bit fancy, but not too fancy. Why not give asparagus dippers a go and replace the usual hen's egg with the bigger duck egg. Bright green, tender asparagus replaces the traditional toast soldiers we're all used to, and it's an opportunity to celebrate the, oh so brief, UK asparagus season.
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Yields:
6
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
6 mins
Total Time:
21 mins
Cal/Serv:
174
Ingredients
600 asparagus spears (not the fine variety)
6 duck eggs
Extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Sourdough bread, optional
You'll also need string
Directions
Step 1
Holding both ends of an asparagus spear in your hands, bend gently until it snaps. Discard woody end (or keep to make soups or stocks). Trim all remaining spears to this length. Use a vegetable peeler to shave any knobbly or woody bits below the tip of each spear.
Step 2
Divide the asparagus equally into six piles, then tie each neatly into a bundle with string.
Step 3
Bring two medium pans of water to the boil. Add eggs to one pan and simmer for exactly 5½min. Add asparagus bundles to the other pan and cook for 1min until just tender. Drain the asparagus and leave to steam-dry in the colander for 3min. Drain the eggs.
Step 4
Put one asparagus bundle on each plate, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Serve with the eggs, plus a slice of sourdough bread, if you like.
Duck eggs or hen's eggs?
We use duck eggs here, which are richer in flavour and larger than regular hen's egg. If you prefer hen's eggs though, then you can of course substitute them in, just boil them for 4min rather than 51/2min.
Be prepared
Prepare the asparagus to end of step 2 up to 2hr ahead. Chill the bundles. Complete recipe to serve.
When is asparagus season?
Asparagus season is short and sweet in the UK, running from mid April through to early June.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
