I’ve finally got back inside my kitchen after a few weekends away and, as always when that happens, I want to prepare us something light and healthy to compensate for indulging when we’re on holiday.

This is a really simple and tasty starter to make at home to welcome the Spring and the milder months.

In Italy you can find fresh asparagus in the supermarkets from the end of March to early June so follow along with me and make this dish while you can.

I’ve got two versions to show you, starting with the green asparagus with boiled eggs, followed by the white asparagus with a fried egg.

Green Asparagus with Boiled Eggs

For 2 people:

• a bunch of green asparagus (around 500g)
• 2 eggs
• olive oil, salt and pepper

Preparation

Peel the asparagus with your regular potato peeler. Just lie the asparagus flat on your chopping board and quickly peel away the harder layer around the spear.

Snap off the woody ends of each spear.

Steam the asparagus for 6 minutes until they’re done but still have a “bite”

Boil the eggs at the same time by putting them in cold water first, then bring the water to the boil and then time the eggs according to how you like them: Me: 6 minutes for an egg with a softish yolk and 10 minutes for Mr Casa Alison who prefers a yolk which is completely cooked.

Plate up the asparagus and eggs like I show you in the photo. Add some oil and season with salt and pepper and serve with bread and you’re done!

Asparagus alla Bismarck

I first tried this dish at TRATTORIA ALLA BARACCA restaurant in Vicenza. It’s a place with a lovely outdoor space with tables set out under the trees and overlooking a peaceful river.

You might be wondering about the name. Well, this dish was named after the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck who is famous for bringing about the unification of Germany in 1871 and apparently ate fried eggs with everything…

For 2 people you’ll need:

• a bunch of white asparagus (around 10 spears)
• 2 eggs
• grated Parmigiano reggiano cheese
• olive oil, salt and pepper

So peel the asparagus as you did with the green ones and cut off the woody ends. By the way, these are white because they grow under the soil and don’t see any sunshine and can’t perform photosynthesis and turn green.

I prefer the white ones, I think the flavour is more delicate. Why not try both and let me know what you prefer?

Steam the asparagus as you did for the other ones and towards the last two minutes you can start to fry the eggs. The more misshapen the better, they look more artistic that way. So don’t worry about how they turn out.

Plate up the eggs and asparagus and this time sprinkle a generous serving of grated cheese on top.

And there you have it, readers. A Spring dish that’s easy to make, nutritious and looks pretty, too.