Well, I did it! The first of many challenges. Today we have a delicious appetizer from my menu: pancetta wrapped asparagus with a fried egg and a delicious, creamy hollandaise sauce. It was delicious. I was very proud of myself! I’ll let the pictures do the 1,000 word speaking!
BEFORE
AFTER
I have to admit, I was super nervous this morning when I was thinking about how to prepare it, plate it and if the pictures would turn out good! Whew! Glad there wasn’t much to worry about. This all in all, was a fairly easy dish to make and it turned out beautifully right? The recipe for this was pretty simple as you’ll see.
First, I took the asparagus and washed them. I cut off the ends, grouped them in “4’s” and set them aside. Next, I took the pancetta (2 slices for each group) and wrapped it around each group of four. I sprinkled each group with olive oil, salt and pepper, put it on a cookie sheet and into the oven at 400 degrees for approx 30 min.
Next, I made my version of hollandaise sauce. You’ll need (for 1 cup serving) 3 egg yolks, dash of salt, 2 tablespoons of orange juice, 1 tsp of cumin (gives it a savory and nutty flavor), 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (more if you like spicy!) and 1/2 a cup of melted, hot butter. Start by pulsing the eggs, orange juice, cumin and cayenne with a hand held mixer for 30-35 seconds. Slowly add the butter; you’ll start seeing the sauce thicken and get creamy. Once all the butter is added, set sauce aside.
Finally, I made the egg. Here’s a nice tip: cook the egg on medium low in vegetable oil and spoon the oil in the pan over the yolk and whites and you’ll get a nice shiny yolk and firm white area, which makes it look great and easy to handle. Then just assemble how you want to!
That’s it! Pancetta Wrapped Asparagus. Tell me what you think of it! Leave a comment, share with your friends/family and for once, try this at home!
The Test Kitchen 