Asparagus Tips ‘All’ Italiana’
Prepare about 200 asparagus tips two or two and a half inches long, half cook, and then drain them. Put them in a baking-pan with fresh butter and strong gravy, taking care that they should be well glacées. Cook fifteen or eighteen eggs for five minutes, shell them and keep them warm in hot water. Pile a stiff purée of potatoes dome-shaped on a dish, arrange your asparagus heads (pointing upwards) round it, heat the dish well, and stand your eggs upright all round, pouring a white sauce over them. Serve very hot.