A recipe for simple baked asparagus and ham egg cups with the easiest hollandaise sauce ever, perfect for both breakfast or dinner.
I’m always looking for new ways to use asparagus when it’s producing in our garden. If you grow asparagus, then you know it’s definitely a feast-or-famine type of thing: you’re either waiting for it to produce, dealing with heaps of asparagus or, after six weeks of eating asparagus non-stop, you’re ready for it to leaf out and start storing it’s energy for the next year.
This is the kind of stuff you learn if you grow a vegetable garden – how our ancestors lived not that long ago, appreciating produce in it’s season. Though to be honest, there are many things I’m glad we can have longer than just a few weeks because of refrigeration and shipping. But that’s our secret, okay?
Okay, back off the rabbit trail. Other than using asparagus in a quiche or frittata that we eat for dinner, I had not thought of adding asparagus to eggs until our daughter went on a mission trip to northern Mexico a couple years ago and came back saying her host mother served the girls scrambled eggs with asparagus for breakfast (that she actually ate it which was the more surprising thing about that conversation, though, lol). Light bulb moment!
Asparagus and Ham Eggs Cups
Since then I have been adding asparagus when it’s in season to our eggs, and since we love eggs benedict I thought of combining the concept in a paleo, low-carb way by baking the eggs and asparagus in ham “cups” created by lining muffin tins with thin ham and then topping with our super easy hollandaise sauce.
And then I upped the flavor by roasting the asparagus first in garlic and olive oil just until crisp-tender. Ah, yes – success!!
The verdict? We all thought (daughter included!) they were delicious and such a fun breakfast treat served with fruit and coffee. Which isn’t to say this wouldn’t make a lovely light dinner or lunch, either. And since it looks just a bit elegant, anyone that you make this for will feel special!
Asparagus and Ham Egg Cups with Easy Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound asparagus
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 6 slices thinly sliced ham
- 6 eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
- Easy Hollandaise Sauce recipe* or shredded cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Trim asparagus and cut into 1-inch pieces. Toss with olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 7-9 minutes until tender-crisp (depending on the thickness of your spears, it may take shorter or longer). Remove from oven.
- In an 4 or 8-cup glass measuring cup or bowl with a pouring spout, beat eggs with 1/4 cup water or milk and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Lightly coat a 6-cup muffin tin with oil and line each cup with a slice of ham, easing to fit as needed. Divide the roasted asparagus pieces between the ham-lined cups, and then pour the egg mixture evenly onto the ham in the cups (some may ooze outside of the ham and that's okay - it will all bake together).
- Add the muffin tin to the oven and bake for 15 minutes (or until desired doneness - test with a knife in the centers to make sure egg is cooked through).
- Meanwhile, make the easy (really - you use the microwave!) hollandaise sauce here.
- Optionally, if you don't want to top with the sauce, you can add shredded cheese to the tops during the last 5 minutes of baking.
- After removing the egg cups from the oven, let them sit for a few minutes and then remove them with a flexible spatula to individual plates. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Other asparagus recipes you may like:
Chicken-Spinach Frittata with Asparagus and Feta
Shrimp and Asparagus over White Bean Puree
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Holly Masri says
Your recipe was a big hit this morning, aside from the hollandaise, which I’ll have to take another shot at. I love putting asparagus in breakfast things… but i’ve never tried roasting it that way before. Definitely improves it! 🙂
My one mistake (aside from the hollandaise) was in using a little too much salt (we haven’t bought ham for a long time) and in choosing to use a disposable muffin pan. I had hoped to be able to reuse it… but it turned out to be (who’d have thought it?) DISPOSABLE! There it sits in the sink, sneering cruelly at my feeble efforts to remove the egg from its’ crevices. Just NOT POSSIBLE!
Oh, well. Maybe I can use it for an art project of some sort. In the meantime, I guess I’ll add “muffin pan” to my list of things to hunt for at Goodwill…;)
Jami says
Oh, that’s funny Holly! Guess what? I didn’t even know they made disposable muffin tins. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed the recipe (and hope my suggestion for the sauce works for you next time, too!).
Jaime @ A Hungry Pilgrim says
Looks like a perfect Father’s Day breakfast! May I ask where you bought those lovely plates? xoxo
Jami says
I have to buy them on Ebay, though I know a number of people who’ve been lucky enough to find them at garage sales. They are ‘Rose Point’ by Pope Gosser and they’ve been our everyday dishes for 12 years and I still love them. 🙂 Thanks for asking, Jaime!
Gay says
Brilliant, Jami! Like you, we are always looking for ways to use up all the asparagus our garden produces. This will definitely be going into my asparagus file. Thanks