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ASPARAGUS BAKED EGGS, POTATO RÖSTI AND FIELD MUSHROOMS

For those fresh spring mornings when asparagus is in season and calling out for runny yolks. These asparagus baked eggs are served with golden rösti, richly flavoured field mushrooms and a citrusy tarragon hollandaise sauce for a really wholesome vegetarian breakfast.

FEAST

Serves 8

300g Cornish asparagus, tough ends snapped off

50g butter

2 tbsp light olive oil

2 white onions, finely sliced

8 eggs

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE POTATO RÖSTI

2kg potatoes, peeled and coarsely grated

2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

100g butter

FOR THE TARRAGON HOLLANDAISE

250g butter

2 large egg yolks

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

juice of ¼ large lemon, or to taste

1 tbsp finely chopped tarragon leaves

FOR THE FIELD MUSHROOMS

2 tbsp light olive oil

8 field mushrooms, peeled and cut into 1cm slices

50g butter

Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan oven) gas mark 3. Chop the tips off the asparagus and put them to one side. Using a swivel vegetable peeler, pare the asparagus into ribbons.

Melt the butter with the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and a good pinch of salt and pepper, then cook for 8–10 minutes until lightly caramelised. Add the asparagus ribbons and cook for a further 1 minute.

In a small roasting tin, lay out two-thirds of the onion and asparagus mix, then crack the eggs over the top, leaving a gap between each one. Put the remaining onions and asparagus ribbons, and the asparagus tips, over the top to protect the eggs. Lightly season with salt and pepper and set aside.

To make the rösti, put the grated potato in large mixing bowl and add the salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Pour the melted butter over the potato and mix well. Once well coated, split the mixture in half and press it into two non-stick frying pans. Cook over a medium heat for 4 minutes or until the edges start to become golden.

Hold a chopping board or a plate over the frying pan and flip the pan over to turn the rösti out onto the board, then sweep the rösti back into the pan to cook the other side. Do the same with the other pan of rösti. Cook on this side for 2 minutes or until turning golden. Transfer the rösti from each pan to a baking tray.

Put the rösti, and the roasting tin with the asparagus mix, into the oven, and bake for 15 minutes or until the rösti is golden all over and the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny.

While the rösti and asparagus are cooking, make the hollandaise. Put the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat and gently melt, then set aside. Put the egg yolks and vinegar in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and whisk continuously until the eggs have thickened to the consistency of mayonnaise. If it becomes too thick, add a tiny splash of warm water.

Take off the heat and slowly whisk in the melted butter in a steady stream, discarding the white sediment at the bottom of the pan. Add 1 tablespoon of warm water, most of the lemon juice and all the tarragon, then season with salt and pepper and add more lemon if required.

To cook the mushrooms, heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add the mushrooms and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, then add the butter and cook for 2 minutes more. Serve the asparagus baked eggs with the rösti, mushrooms and tarragon hollandaise.