Pasta with Poached Egg and Asparagus can only be described as a filling, tasty and clean pasta dish. The smoothness of the perfectly poached egg together with the slightly al dente pasta creates a perfect match. Then add the asparagus to the recipe and it rises another level. Your dish now has the slight crunch of the stems with the nutty flavour of the tips. Also I have included roasted chopped hazelnuts for an added texture and it works. However the surprising thing is that this recipe produce a dish that is full of body and remarkably filling yet is vegetarian.

Pasta with Poached Egg and Asparagus

It shouldn’t be this easy to make such a great mix of flavours.

4.73 from 65 votes

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Course: Main Dish, Starter

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Cheese, Dairy, Eggs, Nuts, Parmesan, Pasta, Poach, Vegetables

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 25

Servings: people

Calories: 468kcal

Ingredients

150 g spaghetti
8 spears asparagus 1 bunch
4 large eggs free range
260 g tajarin pasta fresh
80 g Parmesan grated
50 g hazelnuts crushed and toasted
160 g butter

Instructions

You’ll need two pans of boiling salted water for this dish: a deep one for the pasta, and a shallow one for the egg yolks.
Set a large bowl over the deep pan to act as a lid, and to warm the bowl – put the butter in it to melt. If you’ve somewhere to do so, warm your serving dishes.
While the water is coming to a boil, prepare the asparagus and the egg yolks (once you start cooking, everything must come together quickly).
When the salted water is boiling add the pasta and cook per packet instructions.
Cut off and discard the tough bases of the asparagus, and cut the spears into fine julienne strips.
8 spears asparagus
Meanwhile, separate the eggs. Save the whites for another day, and put the yolks individually into little dishes with a splash of cold water in each to keep them lubricated. Take care not to break the membranes.
4 large eggs
When you are pretty much ready to serve, put the tajarin on to boil. It will only take a minute for fresh, two for dried. Thirty seconds before the pasta is done, add the fine strips of asparagus to the same pan of boiling, salted water as the pasta.
260 g tajarin pasta
When both are verging on done but still al dente, drain the pasta and asparagus (reserving a cup of the pasta water) and toss them in the warmed bowl of butter. Add a dash of the pasta water, if it starts to look dry.
160 g butter
Working quickly, poach the egg yolks – slip them gently into the shallow pan of water and let them simmer for just 30 seconds, until the little film of egg white that you couldn’t help but leave clinging to them has in fact turned white. You want to leave the yolks themselves completely raw and oozing – barely warmed.
While they are poaching, serve the pasta on to warmed dishes – divide it between 4 or between 2, as a starter or as a main.
Make a well in the centre of each dish and use a slotted spoon to lift the egg yolks from their poaching bath and into their new nests of tagliolini.
Scatter with grated parmesan and toasted chopped hazelnuts, and serve immediately.
80 g Parmesan, 50 g hazelnuts