Asparagus mimosa is a simple dish of blanched asparagus, sprinkled with the sieved yolks and whites of eggs and drizzled with a lemony mustard vinaigrette.  This dish gets its name from the bright yellow of the sieved egg yolks, which is reminiscent of the beautiful yellow mimosa flower.  To make the asparagus vase, use a cylindrical vase about the same height as the asparagus.  Fill the vase with water and place a rubber band around the middle of the vase.  Insert the asparagus spears one by one right next to each other in between the vase and the rubber band. Cover the rubber band with either ribbon or raffia and tie them in a pretty bow. Place your favorite spring time flowers inside the vase for a beautiful centerpiece.  Happy Spring!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound asparagus, trimmed*
  • 3 eggs, hard boiled**
  • rind of one lemon, grated
  • 2 tablespoons chives, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar***
  • 2 teaspoons honey mustard
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Fill a large straight-sided skillet with 1 to 2 inches of water.  Bring to a boil, add a teaspoon of salt, add trimmed asparagus, reduce heat to a simmer, and blanche asparagus for about 4 minutes or until tender when pieced with a fork.

Drain asparagus, and place in a large bowl of ice water (to stop the cooking and to set the bright green color).

Peel the hard boiled eggs, then cut eggs in half and scoop out the yolks. Force the yolks through a sieve with medium sized holes.  You can repeat this process with the egg whites or finely chop them.  Keep the yolks and whites separate until ready to use.

To make gremolata: Place rind of lemon, chives, and garlic in small bowl and mix together with a fork.

To make vinaigrette: In a medium sized bowl, place lemon juice, vinegar, honey mustard, and salt and pepper to taste, and whisk together well.

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly until the oil and vinegar are emulsified and you have a thick vinaigrette.

To assemble the asparagus mimosa: Place the blanched asparagus on a serving plate—preferably white.  About 1/3 of the way down the asparagus and in relatively straight horizontal lines (see recipe photo), sprinkle on the sieved egg yolk, then the gremolata, then the chopped egg white. Finish the dish with a drizzle of the vinaigrette.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or side dish.

Essex Fells Magazine

April 2013

Notes

* To trim asparagus: Line up asparagus on a cutting board and cut off about 1 inch of the woody root end.  Alternatively, you can snap off the bottom inch or so of each asparagus root end.  It always seems to snap off in just the right place.

** To hard boil eggs: Fill a medium saucepan halfway full with water.  Bring water to a boil. With a slotted spoon, carefully lower the eggs into the boiling water.  Lower the heat slightly, so that the water is still boiling, but not at a rolling boil.  Boil the eggs for 10 minutes.  Remove them from the boiling water.  Pour out the boiling water, then fill the pot with cold water.  Replace the drained eggs into the pot with cold water.  After about 5 minutes, remove the eggs from the cold water.  They are now ready to peel.

*** It is ok to substitute lemon juice or another type of vinegar for the raspberry vinegar

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