Asparagi alla Milanese – Milanese Asparagus recipe

According to Adriano De Carlo, author of Cazzoeùla, busècca, òss bùs… e altre 97 ricette lombarde, though there are a couple of areas in Lombardia where asparagus is grown, for the most part Lombardi are content to let others do the growing and simply cook them. Quite well; Plutarch tells of Julius Caesars visiting Mediolanum (the Celtic city that became Milano), and being offered asparagus served with a delicate grease (butter), rather than the oil the Romas were used to. Caesar enjoyed them very much.

Ingredients to serve 4:

• 3.3 pounds (1.5 k) asparagus
• 4 eggs
• Freshly grated Parmigiano
• Salt
• Unsalted butter

Preparation instructions:

Scrape the bottoms of the stems of the asparagus, wash them, and tie them into a bunch. Set them in a narrow high sided pot with boiling water sufficient to reach half way up the stems; this way the bases will boil while the tips will steam. Cook them just until a fork penetrates easily do not let them get soggy then drain them and arrange them on a serving dish with the tips pointing towards the center of the dish.

Dust them with abundant Parmigiano, and lay over them four eggs fried sunny side up in abundant butter, which should be hot enough to melt the cheese and bind it to the asparagus stocks. You can also omit the eggs, and simply use butter if you prefer.