Egg Benedict crostini with herb asparagus

Ingredients

• 500 g green asparagus
• 200 g bacon or pancetta
• 4 spring onions
• some olive oil and butter for frying
• juice 1⁄2 lemon
• each 1⁄4 bunch of parsley, chervil, watercress, chopped
• 50 ml vinegar (for poaching)
• 4 eggs
• 4 slices of white bread
• salt and pepper
• chili powder to sprinkle
• olive oil to drizzle

Instructions

1. Wash the asparagus, peel the lower half and cut off about 2 mm from the bottom. Cook in a pot with water until firm to the bite, lift out, rinse with cold water and put aside.

2. Fry the pancetta in a pan and set aside.

3. Clean the spring onions and cut them finely. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the spring onions. Add asparagus, season and refine with lemon juice and herbs.

4. Heat water with vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt in a large pot. In the meantime, fry white bread in a pan with some butter and place on preheated plates. Cover with the asparagus and pancetta

5. Beat the eggs one by one in a ladle and carefully slide them one after the other into the boiling vinegar water and let them steep for 5-7 minutes. Remove the eggs from the vinegar water with a skimmer, let them drip off for a short time and arrange on the prepared white bread slices with asparagus and pancetta. Sprinkle with chilli powder and drizzle with olive oil.

Eggs Benedict are traditionally served with Sauce Hollandaise. The fresh version with green asparagus and herbs is a light dish and goes wonderfully with the spring months. But of course you can also serve this dish with a sauce Hollandaise or Béarnaise.