Asparagus, poached egg yolk, radish, Pecorino, speck

A salad should be spectacular, the ingredients highlighting the produce on the plate. This salad is a combination of flavours that complement each other beautifully.

The tender asparagus is beautiful with the sharp radish and complimented by the salt and fat from the speck and the cheese. The creamy egg yolks add the perfect balance to the salad. In India, I could not find speck, so I substituted prosciutto, and it worked just as well. Light, fresh and decadent, this is the perfect "wow" salad on your table.

This is a specialized cookbook filled with absolutely fabulous salads. I was browsing through a bookshop when they existed and in the cookbook section when I found this gem and had to buy it immediately, something I rarely do. The salads are complex, with loads of ingredients that are paired uniquely and beautifully, as in this salad. This is a cookbook I had to have, and I highly recommend it to any salad lover.

For more delicious recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

5 oz. Italian speck or pancetta, finely diced

3 1/2 oz. Pecorino

12-15 asparagus spears

4 eggs

1 teaspoon oil

1-2 red radish, thinly sliced horizontally

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

To prepare the asparagus, trim the bottoms with thick, fibrous skins. Peel the remaining bottoms to remove any additional fibre. The asparagus are delicate, and they snap off when folded without leaving any strings.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil, and blanch the asparagus for 1 minute. Remove and cool under cold water. The spears should be cooked but maintain their crispness. Please do not use soggy asparagus. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Add the diced speck/pancetta and sauté for 1 minute until the meat is crisp and the fat renders. Remove and drain on paper towels. Set aside.

To make the poached egg yolks, separate the whites and yolks of the eggs. Bring a pot of water to a gentle simmer. Gently scoop a yolk onto an egg poacher, immerse it in the water, and allow the yolks to cook. They are cooked when firm on the outside but runny inside. Set aside for about 3 minutes. Keep warm. I usually do this step last.

Add the asparagus and radish to a bowl and toss with the vinegar and olive oil—layer onto a wide, shallow bowl. Distribute the speck and shave some Pecorino on top in curls. Gently tip on the warm egg yolks and serve immediately with salt and pepper on the side.