Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast

Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast, a delicious healthy breakfast, or lunch idea that takes no time at all, and very few ingredients. Move over avocado, there is a new veggie for toast in season, asparagus, combined with a lovely medium cooked, farm fresh, organic, free range egg! Asparagus toast anyone?

Song of the day: "Cherish the day" by Sade

Asparagus is in season

Nicoletta and I get all excited when we see our favorite veggies coming in. We frequent a Thursday night 124th street Grand market and it is there that we bought some lovely asparagus. We love asparagus in risotto, pasta, croquettes, or focaccia, to mention a few. However, this time we decided to do it with eggs, as it is a wonderful pairing.

There is a toast dish in town

For the longest time, avocado toast has been on the top of many breakfast and lunch lists. We are changing it up a bit today, inspired by a veggie that is in season and abundance right now in our area. Yes, the asparagus. Very versatile, tasty, and oh so vibrant in color, especially steamed with a touch of lemon, as we've done in this recipe. Come, we are going to show you how to make Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast

Ingredients for Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast

The thing that really attracted us to this recipe beside the use of asparagus, is that it requires very few ingredients. We like that, good for our pocket books, without sacrificing flavor, or sustenance! Here are the ingredients needed:

• Farmer's market asparagus,
• Olive oil
• Water
• Salt and pepper
• Lemon
• Free range chicken eggs
• Good quality grainy crusty bread
• Parmigiano

Getting to the nitty gritty of the recipe

Besides needing few ingredients, another attractive thing about this Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast, is that it takes very little time and effort. Let's get to it:

• First of all we want to break off the bottom stem of the asparagus. You just grab the end and bend and it will snap off at the right place. Then, we want to take off any rough stubs on the stem. Give them a wash in cold water.
• Secondly, in a medium sauté pan, drizzle in some olive oil, place in the asparagus single file, and top with some water. Add salt and pepper, and let that simmer covered for about 5 minutes, or until asparagus are tender, but not mush. Shake the pan to move the asparagus over as they cook. At the end of the cooking time, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the asparagus. Turn off heat and take asparagus out of the pan and place on a dish, set aside. Keep the pan, we are cooking the eggs there.

• Thirdly, brush your bread on one side with olive oil, place in another saute pan with some olive oil, over medium heat, and toast on both sides. You could also toast the bread in the middle rack of the oven at 375°F, until golden and crusty, about 2 minutes.
• While bread is toasting, crack a couple eggs into the pan you simmered the asparagus in. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat covered until eggs are nice and even and yolk is slightly runny. Really cook the egg to your liking, over easy or over hard, it is really up to you.

The final touches to this Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast

• Take bread out of oven or pan and place on serving dishes. Put five asparagus onto each bread slice. Top with egg. Shave some Parmigiano on top, and if you like, some more cracked pepper.
• Ready to serve.

Beautiful and Tasty

This is such a simply wonderful and delicious light meal. We love the brightness of the asparagus nestled between that crusty golden bread, and that lovely egg, with those featherlike morsels of Parmigiano. Time to take a bite. I like to get all the the components in my first bite.

The bread is perfect, loads of texture, very nutty. The asparagus perfect, juicy, earthy sweet, tender, and so aromatic. The egg is the topping on the cake, so flavorful. The yolk just a bit runny, and those shavings of Parmigiano adds enough saltiness and umami to balance all the flavors. All in all, a wonderful light breakfast or lunch!

A quite thought

These types of recipes really bring us back to our roots. Simple great ingredients, and a love for cooking and sharing, this is what it is all about. It doesn't have to be complicated and expensive to be super delicious, and this Steamed Asparagus and Egg Toast fits the bill well. We have really enjoyed sharing this recipe with you!

Buon Appetito!

Print