Recipe for Hard Cooked Eggs in Brown Butter with Roasted Asparagus

An egg dish for spring recipe

This method is one of my all-time favorite spring recipes. It’s also one of the best ideas ever for using hard cooked eggs. (It works whether you prefer hard boiling or hard cooking the eggs in the oven.) I can’t take credit for the idea of hard boiled eggs with brown butter. My mother came up with it. I simply refined it a little.

If you haven’t experimented with brown butter, I think you’re going to be surprised at how easy it is to make. And how well it works with eggs!

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is one of those magical ingredients that enhances the taste of any dish, savory or sweet. Its flavor brings a unique, nutty depth that makes everyone want to lick the plate. It is simply butter that has been cooked to the point that its milk solids get toasted. The technique is a little tricky in that you have to watch it continuously. You only want to take the butter slightly past the melting point. Beware of letting it burn.

But once you’ve mastered this step, you will not believe what a sprinkling of hard cooked eggs and a bit of brown butter does to beautiful spring asparagus. The combination of oil, nutty butter, creamy egg yolk and herbaceous asparagus is unforgettable.

How to make hard cooked eggs in the oven

The traditional way to make hard cooked eggs is by submerging in water and cooking on the stovetop. (Although we call these eggs hard boiled, the correct name is hard cooked, since the eggs actually cook in the hot water once it’s removed from the heat, not in boiling water.) But what if I told you there’s an easier way to make hard cooked eggs?

You can produce hard cooked eggs in the oven. You can just put them straight on the oven rack if you like, although I find it easier to transport the eggs in the cups of a muffin tin. Just preheat the oven to 325 degrees, then cook the eggs for 30 minutes. (You can cook for 20-25 if you like an egg with a soft center, but that won’t work for this recipe.) After the eggs have cooked, transfer them to an ice bath as you would with eggs cooked on the stovetop. It’s really as simple as that!

Oh, and it’s an aphrodisiac

And of course, let’s not neglect to mention that this layered, springtime dish brings together the aphrodisiacs of eggs and asparagus. It’s easy, fast, vegetarian-friendly and aphrodisiac! This spring recipe is hard to resist for so many reasons.

Hard Cooked Eggs in Brown Butter with Roasted Asparagus

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This is a great use for leftover hard cooked (or hard boiled) eggs. A simple, stress-free supper, it will leave you with plenty of time for more amorous pursuits.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Cooking Style fast, Vegetarian

Diet and Health healthy-ish

Seasonal Easter, spring

Ingredient asparagus, eggs

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 2

Author Amy Reiley

Ingredients

• 2 hard boiled eggs*
• 12-16 stalks fresh asparagus depending on thickness
• 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter quartered
• salt
• crusty whole grain bread

Instructions

For the asparagus:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Snap the bottoms off the stalks of asparagus. Wash and pat dry.
• Lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan and dot with butter. Season with salt. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until tender.

For the eggs:

• Peel and roughly chop the eggs.
• Make the brown butter: Melt the cubes of butter in a small saute pan over medium heat, stirring continuously. The butter will become foamy then begin to brown. When it turns dark amber and begins to smell nutty, add the eggs.
• Turn heat to low and saute the eggs for 1-2 minutes until heated through.

To serve:

• Divide the asparagus between 2 plates. (We recommend warming the plates to keep the dish hot.) Top with the eggs and drizzle with any remaining butter. Serve immediately with crusty, whole grain bread.

Notes

*For a no-stress cooking method, try making eggs in the oven instead of hard boiling. Just place the eggs in the cups of a muffin tin and cook in a preheated oven at 325 for 30 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath as you would with eggs cooked in water. 

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