Roasted Asparagus and Poached Egg Canapè Recipe (2024)

08.15.12

Helllloooooooo! (Said in my best Julia Child voice). Do you know what today is? Why, it’s Julia Child’s birthday, of course! Let’s celebrate with roasted asparagus and poached eggs!

[photo via PBS]

She would have been 100 years old today, can you believe it? Like every other food blogger and lover in the world, Julia is sort ofa heroine for me. She cooked because she loved it and she loved to eat. Simple enough, right? I think we lose sight of why we cook and why we love food as bloggers and it’s important to step back and gain a little perspective. Cook to love or don’t cook at all. You know? Well, happy birthday dear Julia! To commemorate, I made something kind of French.

I was thinking “oh I’ll make one of her recipes!” and then I remembered I leave for Vegas in 2 days, have 16,000 things to make for work and have about 4 articles due. So instead, I made something kind of French, a roasted asparagus and a poached egg open face sandwich, or as the fancy French say, a canapè.

Open face sandwiches are the bomb. Yes, I’m bringing that back. You get all of the incredible flavors of your sandwich fillings without all the bread. Don’t get me wrong, I love regular American sandwiches, but sometimes, I just don’t need or want that much bread.Plus, with thicker, crusty bread like this (Ciabatta), you really don’t need a top and a bottom.Besides the lower carb aspect, what really makes this recipe SINGis the poached egg.I’m a sucker for runny yolk.

COME TO MAMA. This was my second time ever poaching an egg (well, fourth if you count my first string of mess-ups) and I’m happy to say this poaching process only took the life of 4 EGGS (as many as the recipe calls for)! No more weresacrificedto the water gods b/c I can’t poach.

We got these beautiful eggs at the farmers market and I couldn’t wait to use them. E, of course, was like “we have a bunch of eggs from Costco, is there even a difference?” Is there even a difference. HA! Silly man, of course there is. But I digress.Each bite of this perfect breakfast sandwich is filled with runny egg on crispy bread perfection.

I mean, that’s a thing of beauty, right? But that’s not all. You also get the bursting flavors of the slow roasted asparagus paired with the fabulous shavings of champagne white cheddar cheese. It’s truly an orchestra of the best flavors ever.And I’ll be honest. I needed a break from goat cheese. I’mfearfulI’ll fall dead at 27 with a heart attack due to goat cheese blockage.

Roasted Asparagus and Poached Egg Canapè

CLICK HERE FOR THE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE!

Yields 4.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of asparagus
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 slices of thick bread (I used ciabatta)
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup grated white cheddar champagne cheese
• Liberal dashes of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut ends off asparagus and disgard. Place asparagus side by side on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 8 minutes. Flip the asparagus and roast another 8 minutes. Remove from oven.
2. Meanwhile, poach your eggs. Bring a full pot of water to a rapid simmer (DO NOT BOIL). Add rice vinegar. Crack your eggs, one at a time, into shallow bowls. Carefully pour the egg into the simmering water. Using a slated spoon, gently move the egg whites over the egg yolk. Turn off the heat, cover and let sit about 4 minutes, or until the egg whites are fully cooked. Using the same slated spoon, very carefully remove the egg from the pan onto a plate. Repeat until all your eggs are poached.
3. Place about 5 asparagus spears on the bread. Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of grated cheese. Carefully put the egg over the cheese and asparagus. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Serve warm and enjoy!

Nutritional information per canapè: