Recipe: Asparagus Bacon Pasta with Poached Egg and Parmesan

Hurray, one of my favorite vegetables, asparagus is back in season again! I bought a huge bunch from the wet market the other day, so decided to whip up a few different dishes featuring this delicious vegetable. For my first asparagus dish, I made pasta for lunch since my son loves it a lot.

Asparagus Bacon Pasta with Poached Egg & Parmesan

Asparagus are full of vitamins A, B and C, virtually fat-free, and full of fibre and folic acid and is also great for the heart, boosts your immune system and cancer defences, as well as being great for skin, nails and hair. This time, we got the larger asparagus, which have a crunchier bite to them. I decided to saute them with some garlic and serve it with pasta, bacon, Parmesan and poached egg. Just snap or cut off the woody ends and cook the asparagus for a couple of minutes, to keep them tender and sweet.

I made 2 plates - one with and one without the poached egg. The non-egg version was for my little boy, who had a cough. Despite having a cough, he finished his whole plate off pasta with gusto :) I personally prefer the one with the poached egg as the runny egg nicely coats each strand of pasta and gives it a wonderful creaminess. Other than poached egg, you can also substitute with a soft boiled egg (recipe here).

Now you see it, now you don't :D

Asparagus Bacon Pasta with Poached Egg and Parmesan
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
150g spaghetti
10 stalks asparagus, washed and woody ends trimmed
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 rashers streaky bacon, sliced thinly
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp chicken stock granules
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To garnish
Parmesan, freshly grated
2 eggs, at room temperature (optional)
Parsley, finely chopped
Truffle oil (optional)


1.  Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to pack instructions (al dente should take about 8-10 minutes). Remove from heat and drain, run under cold water to stop from cooking further.

2. Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in frying pan on medium high heat. Add bacon and cook for 3-4 minutes, until crispy and golden brown. Remove and set aside.

3. In the same pan, add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the asparagus and fry for 2-3 minutes until cooked. Add the pasta, drizzle with remaining olive oil and mix thoroughly for about 1 minute, and then season with chicken stock granules, salt and pepper. Mix in the crispy bacon.

4. Using a two-pronged carving fork, swirl some of the pasta around the fork. Slide the pasta off the fork and mound it in the center of a plate. Repeat for each serving. If serving with poached or soft boiled egg, place the egg on top of the pasta (in the centre). Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley.

5. For the poached egg, see this whirlpool method, or Delia's method, or clingfilm method. This time, I am using the Delia method - fill a frying pan with 4cm barely simmering water. Break each egg into a cup and lower into the water. Cook for approximately 2 minutes (you will know it's cooked when the egg white has set). Use a slotted spoon to remove. You can also serve this with a soft boiled egg.

6. Serve immediately. Shave Parmesan cheese on top and add a dash of truffle oil to finish.

Note: Please do not discard the asparagus woody ends.Save them in a zip lock bag and place in freezer. See here on what you can do with them.

If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates. Thanks :)

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's FB page on 28 April 2014.