Broiled Asparagus-Autentico

I would like to thank my good friend L. from Cucina Cara Mia for Rolando Beramendi’s cookbook Autentico. I’ve had this book for months and have finally started to cook my way through it. The recipes are straightforward with good advice about ingredients and technique. They are “authentic” and exemplify the simplicity of Italian cuisine. Rolando’s book includes dishes from around Italy and the stunning photos may just entice you to start planning an Italian getaway.

I chose this recipe as I had all the ingredients at hand, well almost all of them. I did substitute pancetta for prosciutto and I didn’t have lemon olive oil so I added a bit of fresh lemon juice to the olive oil.

Broiled Asparagus

2 bunches of asparagus

Extra virgin olive oil with lemon

sea salt

1/4 cup cubed prosciutto (I used pancetta)

2 large hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat the broiler. Put the asparagus on a rimmed baling sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place under the broiler and broil, turning occasionally until all the sides are charred and the asparagus is tender, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a non-stick skillet cook the prosciutto over medium heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.

Divide the asparagus between four plates and top each with some of the chopped hard-boiled egg, prosciutto, and a drizzle of olive oil. Shave a a few Parmigaino-Reggiano slices over each serving and season with salt and pepper. Serves: 4