Chef Thomas
A Ploughman's Salad
The old pub ploughman's, shaken loose from its board and laid across butter lettuce with a sharp mustard dressing, for the kind of lunch that feels like you've given yourself the afternoon off.
Culinary Explorer
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English Asparagus with a Poached Egg and Mustard Dressing
Created by Chef Thomas
Warm English asparagus with a soft poached egg broken over the top and a sharp mustard dressing that pools into the yolk. A short season, properly celebrated, on a plate in ten minutes.
Salads
British
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
10 min
Active Time
10 min cook•20 min total
Yield2 servings
The asparagus season lasts about six weeks if you're lucky. Late April to the end of June, though the best of it comes in May, when the spears are fat and tight-tipped and taste of the ground they came out of that morning. I wait for it every year. I don't buy imported asparagus in February. There's no point. It won't taste like itself yet.
This is the simplest thing I know to do with a good bundle. Blanch the spears so they're warm and bright, set a poached egg on top, and dress the lot with something sharp and mustardy that cuts through the richness of the yolk. When you break the egg and the gold runs over the green and into the dressing, it looks like a painting you'd want to eat. No technique required. No cleverness. Just good asparagus, a fresh egg, and ten minutes of your attention.
I made this last May for someone who'd had a long day. Two plates, a bottle of white wine already cold, the kitchen window open because the evening was finally warm enough. I wrote it down afterwards: asparagus, egg, mustard, Tuesday. That was enough to remember it by. The market decides what we eat, and in May, the market says asparagus. You don't argue with the market.
There are few better feelings than putting a warm plate in front of someone when the food on it is this straightforward. We're only making dinner. But sometimes dinner is the best part of the day.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
English asparagus
Quantity
1 bundle (roughly 250g)
woody ends snapped off
very fresh eggs
Quantity
2
white wine vinegar (for poaching)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Dijon mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
wholegrain mustard
Quantity
1 teaspoon
white wine vinegar (for dressing)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
good olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
lemon juice
Quantity
a squeeze
fine sea salt
Quantity
to taste
black pepper
Quantity
to taste
soft herbs (optional)
Quantity
small handful
chervil, chives, or flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn or snipped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| English asparaguswoody ends snapped off | 1 bundle (roughly 250g) |
| very fresh eggs | 2 |
| white wine vinegar (for poaching) | 1 tablespoon |
| Dijon mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| wholegrain mustard | 1 teaspoon |
| white wine vinegar (for dressing) | 1 tablespoon |
| good olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| lemon juice | a squeeze |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| black pepper | to taste |
| soft herbs (optional)chervil, chives, or flat-leaf parsley, roughly torn or snipped | small handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide saucepan for blanching
- •Small saucepan for poaching
- •Slotted spoon
- •Small whisk or jam jar with a lid
Instructions
- 1
Make the dressing
Put both mustards in a small bowl or jar with the vinegar, a pinch of salt, and a good grinding of black pepper. Whisk or shake to combine, then add the olive oil in a slow trickle, whisking as you go, until the dressing comes together into something creamy and sharp. Taste it. It should make the back of your tongue prickle. Add a squeeze of lemon if it needs lifting. Set it aside. It will sit happily for an hour or more.
The balance between the two mustards matters. Dijon gives heat and emulsification. Wholegrain gives texture and a rounder, sweeter warmth. Adjust to your taste, but you want both. - 2
Blanch the asparagus
Bring a wide pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Drop in the asparagus. Thick spears want three to four minutes; slender ones, barely two. You're looking for a spear that bends slightly when you pick it up with tongs but still has a clean snap when you bite through the tip. Bright green and just yielding. Lift them out and lay them on a clean tea towel to drain. Don't refresh them in cold water. You want them warm.
Snap the woody ends off by hand rather than cutting. Hold each spear near the base and bend it. It will break naturally at the point where tough becomes tender. The spear knows where. - 3
Poach the eggs
While the asparagus cooks, bring a separate pan of water to a gentle simmer. Add the vinegar. Crack each egg into a small cup first, then slide it into the water where the bubbles are softest. The white should wrap around the yolk like a cloth. Leave them alone for three minutes, perhaps a little less. Lift each egg out with a slotted spoon and let it drain on a piece of kitchen paper. The white should be just set, the yolk still completely liquid. Press the top gently with your finger. It should give like a water balloon.
Fresh eggs poach better. The white holds together instead of trailing off into ghostly wisps. If your eggs are more than a few days old, strain each one through a fine-mesh sieve first to lose the watery outer white. It makes all the difference. - 4
Assemble and serve
Lay the warm asparagus on two plates, not fussily, just piled with some intention. Set a poached egg on top of each. Spoon the mustard dressing generously over and around, letting it pool on the plate and run down the spears. Season with a little flaky salt and pepper. Scatter the herbs over, if you have them. Bring the plates to the table before the egg cools. The moment someone cuts into the yolk and it runs into the dressing and over the asparagus, golden mixing with sharp, that's the dish. That's the whole thing.
Chef Tips
- •Buy English asparagus from someone who can tell you when it was cut. Supermarket bundles flown from Peru in January are a different vegetable entirely. If it isn't the season, wait. In the meantime, make something with purple sprouting broccoli or spring greens, whatever is actually good right now.
- •The egg is everything here. Use the freshest you can find, ideally from a farm shop or a market stall where the shells still have a feather stuck to them. A properly fresh egg poaches beautifully, the white clinging to the yolk in a neat parcel. An old egg spreads across the pan like spilt milk.
- •Make more dressing than you think you need. It keeps in a jar in the fridge for a week, and you'll find yourself spooning it over cold chicken, boiled potatoes, roasted beetroot, anything that wants a bit of sharpness. A recipe is a conversation, not a contract. Use this dressing wherever it's welcome.
- •A glass of something crisp and dry alongside. A Loire Sauvignon, a Picpoul, an English white if you can find one. Nothing too serious. Right food, right evening.
Advance Preparation
- •The mustard dressing can be made a day or two ahead and kept in a sealed jar in the fridge. Give it a good shake before using. It will thicken as it sits, which is no bad thing.
- •Everything else wants to be done in the moment. This is a ten-minute plate, not a plan-ahead supper. The asparagus should be warm, the egg just set, the dressing spooned on at the last second. Freshness is the whole point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 185g)
Calories
285 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
20 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
480 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
9 g
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