Roasted Asparagus with Fried Egg, Prosciutto and Crispy Gremolata Crumbs

Tuesday evening, the Hubs and I went out for a light meal and a glass of wine at Rancho Pinot Grill. We just love the place, and try to go at least a couple of times a year. This restaurant is located in Scottsdale in a small upscale shopping center. The decor is eclectic southwestern with beautiful white table cloths that somehow together really work. The food is always fantastic, always. This time my husband had the seafood salad and I had the grilled asparagus with prosciutto, fried farm egg and toasted crumbs, gremolata.

Since then, I've been plotting and planning a remake if you will, a revival. One of the best things about going out is trying to recreate that special meal you had the night before. According to Wikipedia a gremolata is a dressing or garnish made with chopped parsley, garlic, and grated lemon zest, served as a accompaniment to meat or fish. With that in mind, I adapted a recipe from The Taste.com with a few minor changes. I roasted the asparagus for about 10 minutes, added the gremolata garnish and returned to the oven for another 10 minutes until the asparagus was just tender and the garnish was crisp. I then served this with a fried egg and a slice of prosciutto. Amazing!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup panko
2 garlic cloves (crushed and diced)
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, (plus rind of 1 lemon zested into strips)
2 tablespoon flat leaf parsley (finely chopped)
1 bunch asparagus
4 eggs
4 slices prosciutto
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

To prepare:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Start by making the gremolata garnish. In a small bowl add panko, garlic, lemon zest and parsley, salt and pepper, mix massaging with your fingers, set aside.

Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, arrange asparagus on a tray in a single layer, drizzle with olive oil, then toss well to coat. Roast in oven approx 10 minutes. Remove and add garnish. Roast another 10 to 12 minutes until asparagus is just tender and crumbs are crisp. Fry eggs over easy.

To serve:

Divide asparagus among 4 plates, top with eggs, prosciutto and garnish. Enjoy!

This will serve 4 as a light meal.