I have made this dish twice in the last week. It came about solely because I had some romesco sauce left in the fridge from another dish I made recently. With fresh asparagus and the warm runny egg, it’s seriously good and would make a great Xmas or Boxing Day brunch!
Step 1. Romesco Sauce
Ingredients:
1/3cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup stale crusty baguette (diced)
3 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
2 red peppers (roasted, peeled and rough chopped)
4 ripe tomatoes (blanched, deseeded and rough chopped)
1/2 cup almonds (toasted and skins removed)
3Tbsp sherry vinegar
¼ cup Italian parsley (finely chopped)
1tsp smoked paprika (Dulce/Sweet)
1 pinch hot chilli powder
Sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
Method:
Heat a large non-stick pan, cook bread in olive oil till lightly golden. Add garlic, capsicum, tomato, and cook over medium heat till soft. Add almonds, sherry vinegar and heat through. Finally add the parsley and remove from the heat.
Place ingredients a food processor or similar, and pulse until almost smooth. Transfer to a bowl and season with spices, salt and pepper. Refrigerate until required.
Step 2. Cooking and Serving
Ingredients:
6 Benniks free range eggs
36 spears of asparagus (woody ends snapped off)
Romesco Sauce (room temperature)
Parmesan cheese (shaved)
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Method:
Bring two medium to large saucepans up to the boil with salted water.
First, place the asparagus into one of the saucepans and cook for about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain and keep warm.
Now add the eggs to the other saucepan and poach until just soft.
To serve, divvy out the asparagus onto warm plates. Top with a dollop of romesco sauce. Carefully add an egg to each then finish with shaved fresh parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of sea salt and fresh black pepper. Serve now.