Soft polenta with baked eggs and asparagus

Ingredients

For 1 serving

• Polenta (cornmeal)50 g
• Asparagus150 g
• Eggs2
• Grana Padano15 g
• Reduced-fat milk50 ml
• Extra virgin olive oil1 teaspoon
• Chives3 g
• Saltto taste

Contains: lactose, eggs,

In season: April – June

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190 °C (conventional). Bring the salted water and milk to the boil (about four times the weight of the cornmeal in total); pour in the polenta in a thin stream while whisking and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft and creamy. Off the heat stir in the grated Grana Padano.
2. Meanwhile put a small pan of water on to boil. Wash the asparagus, snap off the woody base and, when the water boils, salt it and blanch the spears for 3 minutes, until tender but crisp; drain and cut into short lengths.
3. Grease a cocotte with the oil, pour in the polenta and level it; arrange the asparagus on top, leaving two hollows in the centre.
4. Crack the eggs into the hollows, add a pinch of salt and bake at 190 °C for 10 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still soft.
5. Finish with snipped chives and serve straight away.