Early Spring is a frustrating time at the Farmer’s Market. The weather is warmer, but the vegetables haven’t caught up. The same old onions, parsnips, and kale pile up on the tables, and you pray for something, anything new.

Then one day the asparagus shows up and you know Spring has officially arrived. I love asparagus, both cooked and raw, despite its urine-effecting properties.

I steamed it, I roasted it, I sauteed it, but I was still looking for something new. Then I remembered an asparagus dish i had at Babbo last year, and decided to recreate it. The Babbo dish had a duck egg on top, and I used a chicken egg.

For mine steamed the asparagus for a few minutes with salt and pepper, then sauteed the stalks in olive oil for a minute, added some finely chopped shallots, and a squeeze of lemon juice. I did this because I was told the Babbo version had sherry vinegar in it (though I didn’t taste it) and I didn’t have any of that. In a separate pan I fried an egg in butter, topped it with salt and pepper, and slid it on top of the asparagus. I topped the whole thing with some parmesan cheese.

The lemon and egg was an unusual combination; not really bad, but not something I’ll be doing again anytime soon. Asparagus and eggs ARE a great combo, and I made this dish again later in the week for breakfast (minus the lemon).

I’ll let you try to figure out which is the one I made, and which one is the Babbo one.

Related Posts:

• Passover Cooking: White Asparagus Soup
• Secret Ingredient: Hen-of-the-Woods, or Maitake Mushrooms
• Cherry Tomatoes Wrapped in Squash Blossoms
• Pasta with Spring Vegetables