So Sunday turned out to be Couples Day. My husband and I have regular Date Nights (typically Wed night for Top Chef and Sun night for Mad Men … yes, TV is involved, but it’s regularly scheduled and easy to Pin On A Calendar), but somehow Sunday turned into Couples Day. We had lunch together at home (leftover Epic Fail), test drove a car (probably an Epic Fail itself), and then headed to this newish frou-frou shopping center to wander about before we saw the new Star Trek movie.

So in this shopping district I stumble upon a store devoted to olive oil and vinegar, Ah love Oil & Vinegar. There are about a zillion olive oils in these adorable metal tanks TO SAMPLE and another zillion balsamic vinegars also in these little tanks TO SAMPLE. OMG — almost as good as a chocolatier (there’s one of those at this shopping center too but it was a warm day so they have to wait for another trip). This stuff is NOT cheap, but I always love the chance to sample before I buy. So I tasted a few (maybe six I was being conservative and saving room for popcorn) and ultimately bought their black truffle olive oil (I’ve been wanting to buy truffle-infused oil but was very nervous about dropping big $ on something that wasn’t so good) and their fig balsamic vinegar (I have a THING for figs).

Have you ever slurped vinegar by the spoon? You can do that with a good aged balsamic — smooth, sweet, almost syrupy. Add some fig essence and you have a sauce fit for strawberries … ice cream … pound cake?

Tonight’s dinner is an ode to this Fig Balsamic Vinegar. I built a simple salad with Red Leaf Lettuce from New Jersey, tart strawberries (they’re big and pretty but not super sweet), crumbled blue cheese, toasted almond slivers, and garlicky croutons, drizzled with the fig vinegar and a few drops of extra virgin olive oil. Served alongside is my homemade crusty artisan bread and a glass of pinot noir … mmmm …

6/5 update: Just had a bowl of RIPE strawberries from the farm market, drizzled with some of this fig vinegar … OMG awesome

Of course, it’s leaping ahead right into summer, which is the typical schizophrenic DC spring. Furnace in the morning, A/C in the afternoon. Time to put away the slow cooker and start thinking about eating lighter. You know, to save room for ice cream.

So I stopped at a farm stand on my way to work on Tuesday. They had some BEAUTIFUL asparagus. Just beautiful. So I grabbed a big bunch (and a quart of strawberries) and had ALL day to scheme about what I was going to do with those lovely little stalks. The tiniest were tender enough to eat raw. I had some prosciutto at home, and some half-and-half, and some parmesan cheese, but a heavy cream sauce just didn’t seem appropriate for the warming days.

So I started brainstorming. I love crisped prosciutto – like what you get on top of a pizza. I also love roasted asparagus, whether from the grill or the oven. So I started to think about wrapping the asparagus in the prosciutto and roasting them off in the oven. Drool. I had bucatini (thick spaghetti with a tube running down the middle) in the pantry and eggs in the fridge, so I started thinking about a soft runny poached egg over the pasta. And the asparagus. Yum. Toss a little parm over the top and you’ve got Heaven on a Plate.

So here’s what you need (for 1 hungry person):

2 or 3 slices of prosciutto, each sliced length-wise into 3 strips
6 – 9 asparagus stalks
A smidge of olive oil
2 oz dried bucatini, spaghetti, or linguine
A smidge of salt
1 or 2 eggs
1 Tablespoon white vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice
A healthy handful of shredded parmesan or asiago cheese
Some fresh ground pepper

Here’s what you’ll do:

The challenge for me was to get asparagus, pasta, and eggs to all come together at the same time. Trust me — it’s worth it even if your timing is off a bit like mine!

Start a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Bring to a full rolling boil.

Start a low pan of water to boil for the eggs. Drop the heat to a bare simmer.

Preheat oven to 325. Spiral one strip of prosciutto around each asparagus stalk. Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in a roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and place in oven. Check every 3 to 5 minutes, shaking pan gently to roll the stalks for even browning (don’t unroll them though!). Time will vary based on stalk size, oven variation, how often you open, etc. But the hope is that they’ll finish just before the pasta is done.

Once the large pot of water is boiling, add some salt and then drop in your pasta. My box called for 11 minutes, so I set the timer for 5 minutes. Stir occasionally so it won’t stick. When the timer went off, I reset it for another 5 minutes.

At that point, add the vinegar to the low pan of barely simmering water and stir. Crack an egg into a tea cup. Gently slip the egg into the simmering acidulated water, kind of flipping the white over as it drops. Repeat with a second egg if desired. Use a soup spoon to gently spoon hot water over the top of the egg — to cook it from the top as well as the bottom. You might need to use that spoon to pull in wayward egg white. Don’t mess with it too much — it’s pretty fragile.

Don’t forget to shake the asparagus! You’ll probably pull it from the oven about 2 minutes before the pasta is done.

When the timer goes off the 2nd time (10 min total mark for me), test your pasta. The only way I know is to pull a strand out, run it under cool water, and eat it. It will likely need another minute or two, but really really watch it now. When done to your preference, drain REALLY well in a colander.

Assembly:

Put the pasta on a plate. Arrange the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus on top. Use a slotted spoon to remove the poached egg(s) — place on top of the asparagus. Sprinkle the cheese and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Take a moment to admire your work — isn’t it so fresh looking? So spring-like? So simple?

Now — take a butter knife and fork and break into the egg, allowing the yolk to ooze down into the pasta. Stir the mostly-cooked egg, hot pasta, and cheese together making an ooey gooey sauce. OMG — divine.

That was Tuesday night. I liked it so much I had to have it AGAIN for lunch today.