How to Make Asparagus Like Ad-Hoc

I don’t have a grill at my house, so seeing a grilled asparagus recipe seemed like a great thing to do, let alone for breakfast! Not sure if this was intended for a breakfast dish, but it really is perfect for groups and relatively easy to prepare. No special sauces or prep needed, aside from poaching eggs, nothing else really too tricky in the recipe.

For some reason the dish just kind of works. The salty prosciutto, richness from the runny egg, freshness of the grilled asparagus, and the crunch of the croutons all meld together into a cohesive dish. Plus you can use that huge serving dish tucked in the back of your pantry that you never use.

Give this a whirl for a fresh weekend brunch with you and your friends! Hope you enjoy.

Cookbook – Ad-Hoc

Ingredients –

Bread
Butter
White vinegar – ~2 tbsp
Large eggs – 6 – or as many as you want on your dish
Asparagus – 2 bunches
Canola oil
Salt and fresh pepper
Prosciutto – 3-4 oz, I tend to eat some during cooking so maybe get a little extra
Torn croutons –
Olive oil
Aged Balsamic
Flaky salt

Step 1 – Make the Croutons

Thankfully, we had some slightly older dutch crunch laying around, so I tore off some irregular pieces and made croutons out of them!

The key to making them, like any Thomas Keller dish, is to cook them slowly. By cooking them slow, they absorb the butter as opposed to becoming dry.

Tear some irregular pieces of what bread you have. Place 2 tbsp of butter and about a 2 second pour of olive oil. Heat over medium until hot, spread the bread in a single layer, do not stack. If you hear sizzling, it’s too hot, but it should be bubbling. Cook until the croutons are rich and golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Set aside when done.

Step 2 – Make the Asparagus

Heat the grill to medium heat.

Break off asparagus bottoms and trim so they are all the same size. If you are really feeling crazy, you can trim all the little scales, but that is not necessary. Place in a baking sheet, generously coat with oil, season with salt and pepper.

Transfer to the grill, cook in batches for about 2 minutes per side.

Step 3 – Poach the Eggs

Boil a large pot of water to a simmer. Pour in the vinegar, you want the water to taste slightly vinegary, but not overly.

Crack the eggs into very small bowl or ramekins, or anything small enough and easy to dump the eggs into water. I’ve used 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup measuring cups before if you really need to. Once simmering, using a slotted or wooden spoon, start to stir the water to create a vortex, you want to get it moving quite a bit. When ready, pour in 2 eggs at a time at most. Cook for 1 1/2 minutes until the whites are set, and the yolk should still be very runny. Repeat with how many eggs you are looking to have. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and set on a paper towel to dry, feel free to trim the ends to make them pretty.

Step 4 – Finish

Easy enough!

Season the eggs with salt and pepper, arrange the asparagus and place the eggs around them. Place in the prosciutto and croutons, drizzle with olive oil and balsamic, sprinkle with flaky salt. Not too bad right!

And for the ratings –

Difficulty of ingredients to find? 3/5 stars – Probably a quick trip to the store
Perceived difficulty going into recipe – 3/5 stars – Some technique involved, poaching eggs also scares people off, but always so worth it
Difficulty after recipe – 3/5 stars – This isn’t really that hard of a dish, just multiple things going on and ideally you have a few people helping out
Time taken – 2/5 stars – Less than an hour
Taste – 4/5 stars – Very good dish – make sure to take a few bites of everything together, it all blends perfectly
Make again – 3/5 stars – for certain occasions, absolutely