Zoodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto
Zoodles (zucchini noodles) quick cooked with asparagus, prosciutto, parmesan cheese, lemon and white wine all topped with a poached egg make a quick and light spring meal.
Something I realized while writing this post: “Zoodles” is a much more fun word to SAY than it is to WRITE. I love saying “Zoodles” it’s cute and fun. Writing it makes me feel awkward. But I also feel like saying “zucchini noodles” is so stuffy. So I decided to go with it, even though I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. How do you feel about the word “Zoodles”? Love it or hate it?
When complaining about this, my friend Michelle who lives in the U.K. told me that over there they call it courgetti – because zucchini are called courgettes. I kind of love that. And I would start calling them courgetti if anyone in the U.S. would know what I was talking about. What do you think, should we as a nation start a new trend and start calling zoodles courgetti?
Aside from speaking or writing about zoodles, how do you feel about eating them? I posted another zoodle recipe awhile back, but over the winter I found myself sticking to more hearty comfort foods. Now that spring is decidedly here, I dusted off the old spiralizer to make this dish. Actually, the first time I made this dish it was with pasta instead of zoodles, so if you just want some real, carby pasta that will work just as well here.
This dish is everything I want in a spring or summer noodle dish. Quick, easy, full of fresh flavors, and satisfying. The actual cooking time is super fast, so it is important to have all of the ingredients prepared before starting. Get your “mise en place”. The hardest thing about it is timing the egg with the rest of the dish, so I found the best solution to that is to poach the egg first, then cook the rest of it. I poached the eggs, removed them from the water, but left the pot of water on the stove (with the heat turned off). Right before serving I put the eggs back into the still warm water to quickly reheat them. It is the best way to avoid getting distracted and overcooking something.
Also I feel like I should talk about cheese here. When I use parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano in a recipe, I am talking about a wedge of high quality cheese that you grate right before using. Not the stuff that comes already grated and certainly not the stuff that comes in a can. Why? Well, first of all, it is the highest quality. If you buy a wedge of cheese it lasts a really long time and you can just grate it as needed (vs when you buy the grated stuff in a tub, it gets moldy very quickly). It doesn’t have any additives. Any cheese that you buy already grated has things added to it to keep it from clumping. At best, it degrades the quality and doesn’t taste good. At worst? Well, you could be eating wood shavings. Yes, I’m serious. So, do me a favor and next time you are buying cheese, go to the “fancy cheese” section of the store and grab a wedge of high quality, aged parmesan. And get a microplane if you don’t have one, it will make grating it a snap and it is one of the most useful kitchen tools I own. That is also why the measurement of the cheese is in ounces. I grate the cheese over a kitchen scale. It is very finely grated and looks like a huge amount of cheese (about 1 cup), but it is only an ounce. Usually with a higher quality cheese you can use less because the flavor is better.
Tools I used for this recipe (affiliate)…
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Zoodles with asparagus and prosciutto
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Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini spiralized
- 4 eggs
- 1 pound asparagus ends trimmed, cut on the bias
- 3-4 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 ounces prosciutto finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
- 1 ounce finely grated parmigiano reggiano plus more for topping
- 1/4 cup white wine
- red chili flakes
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
First Prepare All Ingredients
- To poach eggs, bring a medium saucepan just up to a boil. Crack eggs into individual ramekins. When water starts to boil, reduce heat to keep water just simmering. Stir water to create a whirlpool, then carefully drop egg into water. Simmer for 3 minutes, then remove from water with slotted spoon. When all eggs are poached, turn off the heat but leave the water in the pot. You will use the water to reheat the eggs before serving.
- Heat a sauté pan with high sides over medium heat. Add butter and olive oil. When melted, add a pinch of red pepper flakes and garlic. Sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the prosciutto and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the asparagus, season with just a little salt and pepper, and cook for one minute.
- Add the parmigiano and lemon zest, stir to mix
- Add the wine and lemon juice, cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the zucchini noodles and toss, cooking for about a minute and mixing everything together.
- Place eggs back in warm water to reheat for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Divide asparagus zoodles between 4 plates, top each with a poached egg and season with salt, pepper and more parmesan if desired.
Notes
-I used a microplane to grate the parmesan cheese very finely.
-You will want to use a pan with high sides. A regular frying pan will not be able to hold everything.
Nutritional information is an estimate for your convenience. If you have strict nutritional needs, please do your due diligence to make sure this recipe fits your needs.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase the items I recommend through the links I provide, I get a small commission. For more info, please see my disclosure policy. Thanks for supporting Fox and Briar!
