Flemish-Style Asparagus with Ham

📝 Ingredients

• 800 g white asparagus (about 12 thick spears)
• 500 g baby potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 30 g unsalted butter
• 4 slices of cooked ham (about 40 g each)
• 15 g fresh parsley
• ½ lemon
• Salt, black pepper, nutmeg

🍴 Utensils

• Peeler
• Large sauté pan
• 2 saucepans
• Fork
• Slotted spoon

📖 Steps

1. Put the washed, unpeeled potatoes in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 to 20 min over a medium heat, until the tip of a knife slides in easily. Drain and keep warm, covered.
2. Meanwhile, gently lower the eggs on a spoon into a small saucepan of boiling water and cook for 10 min at a gentle boil. Cool them immediately in very cold water, then peel.
3. Peel the asparagus with a vegetable peeler from 2 cm below the tip down to the base, turning all the way around: the skin of white asparagus is fibrous and must be removed completely. Cut 2 cm off the base, the toughest part.
4. Bring a large sauté pan of salted water to the boil. Lay the asparagus in it and cook for 12 to 15 min at a gentle simmer, depending on thickness, until the tip of a knife passes through the base without resistance. Remove with a slotted spoon and reserve 2 tbsp of the cooking water.
5. Melt the butter over a very low heat in the emptied small saucepan, without letting it brown. In a bowl, mash the eggs with a fork, then add the melted butter, chopped parsley, juice of the half lemon and the reserved cooking water. Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.
6. Roll up the ham slices. Divide the well-drained asparagus between warm plates, spoon the egg sauce over, then add the potatoes and ham alongside. Finish with a final grind of pepper and serve immediately.