When I asked O’Halloran about his favorite taste discovery, he waxed poetic about fried eggs in olive oil. After seeing the movie “Big Night,” he went home that night determined to try it. After having it once, he claims you will never go back.

After that kind of introduction, how could I not try it? While I was at it, I decided to also make one of the Patrick’s dishes that I sampled at a recent Orange Tree Imports cooking class.

 

 

 

Lombardino’s Asparagus Alla Milanese

Serves 6

As you can see, I made some modifications to serve one but I will share the original recipe.

1 1/2 lb of asparagus

1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced

1 shallot, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbsp white wine (or I used vegetable broth)

6 eggs (if possible, use fresh and organic)

1/2 cup  Parmigiano-Reggiano

Salt and Pepper to taste

  1. Cut the woody bottoms from the asparagus.
    O’Halloran suggests using a peeler to peel the stems. This makes the asparagus less woody and more consistent in shape.
  2. Over medium high heat, saute the asparagus in 2 Tbsp of olive oil.
  3. After a minute, add the shallots and garlic.
    O’Halloran stressed throughout his cooking class that the biggest mistakes new cooks make is to add the garlic (or shallots) too early. This leaves you with burnt, bitter garlic and shallots. Add it last to perfume the dish.
  4. Continue to cook for an additional minute, deglaze pan with wine (or vegetable broth) and season with salt & pepper.
  5. Asparagus is ready to go to the plates.
  6. In a separate pan, fry the eggs with remaining olive oil, leaving eggs sunny side up. Yolk should be runny.
  7. Serve over asparagus. Top with freshly grated cheese.
  8. If you have some lemon-infused or high quality olive oil, you can drizzle it over the top as a garnish.

Badger Girl Notes: As you can see from the pictures, I multi-tasked when I made the dish. This made it a very quick lunch but also led me to overcook the egg a little bit. In the pictures below, you will see that my egg is not runny at all. I was a little disappointed but not enough to cook another egg.

 

RECIPE REVIEW: It’s a great, easy and impressive dish to make for a brunch or lunch with friends.

 


Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related posts:

AJ’s Vodka Sauce

Noah’s Weeknight Frittata

The Best Sandwich You Never Thought to Make