Vegetarian mains
Asparagus with egg, herbs and capers on toast
You needn’t always boil or steam your asparagus, you can roast it in the oven or griddle it in a pan or on a BBQ, too. A chopped anchovy and blob of mayo in the egg would make things a bit more indulgent. For a vegan version, replace the eggs with 150g of firm tofu - coarsely chop it and fry for 2-3 minutes until hot and lightly coloured. Mix it with the other ingredients and tweak the seasoning.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 300g asparagus
- olive oil
- 1 lemon
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- handful of parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp capers, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped cornichons or gherkins
- 2 slices of good bread
- salt & pepper - celery salt – optional
Method
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Step 1
Turn your oven to 200˚C/gas 6.
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Step 2
Put the eggs in a small pan and cover with cold water. Bring it to a rolling boil and then cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the pan and immediately cool under running water, this should stop an ugly black ring appearing around the yolk.
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Step 3
Trim away any tough ends from the asparagus then split any larger stems in half lengthways so that they are all roughly the same size.
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Step 4
Toss the asparagus in a roasting tray in just enough oil to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven to roast in the oven for 8–10 minutes (depending on thickness) until just tender. Finish them with a squeeze of lemon as they come out of the oven.
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Step 5
Meanwhile, Peel the eggs and roughly chop or grate them. Mix them with the mustard, parsley, capers, cornichons and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with black pepper and a little celery salt, or sea salt if not.
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Step 6
Toast and lightly butter the bread. Top each slice with asparagus and finish with a pile of herby eggs.