All Dressed Up Asparagus

Elevate your Sunday afternoon with this Spring asparagus dish that will surely have your guests talking for weeks to come. Each spear is delicately sautéed to perfection and then drizzled in a creamy white gravy. But that's not all – a perfectly poached egg is then smashed on top, adding an irresistible velvety texture and a burst of flavor to the dish. 

For this recipe there are many options for the sauce. You can make a creamy dijon dressing, or make a white gravy, or use a hollandaise sauce. Really the list could go on and on so you decide. For the sake of picking, we have used white gravy as an example below, but feel free to substitute with one of the substitutions mentioned above. 

Prepare your hard boiled eggs first.

Place them in a pot and cover them with cold water by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil over high heat.

When the water begins to boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Leave the eggs in the hot water for anywhere from 10-12 minutes. The 10-minute eggs will have vibrant, creamy yolks, while the 12-minute yolks will be paler and opaque, with a chalkier texture.

Drain the eggs and transfer them to a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Leave them in the ice bath for at least 14 minutes before you peel the eggs.

Melt 4 the butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk continuously until the mixture has a toasty aroma and becomes a deep golden hue, 3-5 minutes. *The roux will thin out a bit as it continues to cook.

Whisking constantly, slowly add the milk a 1/2 cup at a time. The mixture will seize up at first. Don’t worry, just keep slowly adding the milk and whisking constantly — it will become smooth and creamy. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and whisk to combine.

Continue to whisk and cook until the gravy is thickened to your desired consistency, 3 to 5 minutes. It should fall in a thick stream from a spoon, but not clump. Taste and season with more kosher salt and black pepper as needed.

 If you make in cast iron it's easy to keep it warm longer. While keeping the gravy warm, prepare the asparagus.

Trim the woody ends from the base of the asparagus spears by cutting off the bottom 2 inches or by snapping it off with your hands.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add the asparagus in a single layer and cook, turning occasionally, until lightly golden and almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes. 

Reduce the heat to low. Add the butter, garlic, salt, and pepper and stir to coat the asparagus. Cook until the garlic is softened and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Immediately transfer to a serving plate. Just before serving, squeeze the juice from the lemon half over the asparagus, add the gravy, then the eggs, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garnish with herbs and serve immediately.

Place the sautéed asparagus on heated individual plates, spoon the gravy generously over the middle. Now you can add the diced hard boiled eggs or press the poached egg until it splits and place on top of the gravy. Sprinkle with parmesan, chives and a squeeze of lemon.

For the creamy dijon sauce

• 1/2 cup olive oil mayonnaise, Hellmans or dukes
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp Water
• 1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar (Sub for one of our infused cooking vinegars, found here)
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 3 Hard Boiled Eggs, chopped

Mix all of the dijon sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Serve by arranging the spears on a platter and spoon the sauce generously over the middle. Sprinkle the sauce with the chopped eggs and garnish with chives.