October 10, 2025 • 6 mins
This is an utterly delicious way to make the most of seasonal asparagus. It’s simple, packed full of protein, and just as good for lunch or dinner, as a picnic item or party piece.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 400g (approx. 2 medium-large) potato
- 5 medium-large eggs, lightly beaten in a large bowl
- 2 tbsps. rosemary, chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt + ¼ tsp cracked pepper
- 1-2 bunches asparagus, tough ends snapped off
- ½ cup grated cheddar
Method
- Preheat oven to 170 C.
- Heat half the oil in a large (23-26cm) ovenproof pan and cook the onions until soft.
- Peel potatoes and either slice very thinly or chop roughly and put in a food processor and pulse until chopped into pea-sized pieces (I use the latter method). Don’t overdo it or they will turn to mush.
- Whisk the eggs with rosemary, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add sliced/chopped potatoes and toss well to coat. Add in softened onions and stir to combine.
- Add remaining oil to the pan then pour in the egg/vegetable mixture. Reduce the heat to low and cook slowly until the edges are cooked – about 10 minutes.
- Lay asparagus over the top and top with cheese.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle.
- Rest for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges or squares and serve either hot or at room temperature with your favourite chutney.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
If you're looking for a creative little recipe, something seasonal,
something delicious. Nicky Wax, our cook, has the recipe for
you this week, and she's with us now kill good.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Morning, good morning. Yes it is the It is the
time for those beautiful green spears.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I love that, Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I love them. Are you a fair awful? Do you
know what?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I think?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I've said this before when I was growing up my parents,
who are amazing cooks, each of them are amazing cooks.
But in my earlier years, I think that the way
that they made asparagus the sort of I don't think
they boiled it, but it sort of had a slightly
stewed quality when we eat at our place, and you'd
you'd be killing it and be like you'd be pulling
the individual strings of it, kind of flossing with its
(00:59):
days there afterwards. And so, but then when I was
about do you know what, I actually have this this
kind of seminal baragus memory, I remember, for the first
time in my life having had asparagus that had just
been very very quickly roasted in butter and I remember
eating it and being like, oh my god, but that
is not how I've been eating asparagus. And I can
(01:21):
remember where I was. I can remember where I was
sitting at the table when I ate it. It was
so delicious, you know, that.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Is a moment. Was that in New Zealand?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It was?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It was actually I was. I was staying with a
friend's grandma and Charleston on the south west coast. I
literally remember where I was sitting at the table.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Great, I love it. I mean my life is full
of those food memories because you know, you do associate
them with where you were and who you were with
or whatever. Yeah, well that is the way to cook
them is not to murder them. They do go stringy.
And also your parents might have been I wonder if
they were also trying to save a bit of money.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think they probably were. And to be fair to
my parents, they have the way they cook asparagus now
as much come along much closer to the to the
lab right, I mean that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Was back in the days when we also cooked over
cart exactly. Now. Look, I think asparagus goes really well
with eggs, so you'll often find sort of a nice
poached egg which is not my shtick at all on
an asparagus. But I've put it in a fratata here
because i like my eggs kind of a bit more cooked,
as it were. I think asparagus goes really well with fish.
(02:24):
So it's so grassy and light and kind of you know,
I don't know, it's just it's earthy, you know. But
it also is very gentle in some ways as well,
so you know, it can be good with those sorts
of things. With butter. It's great as well. Make a
nioise salad, but put instead of green beans, you can
use asparagus. But look, here's this fritata, so deep easy
(02:44):
ovan on because I'm going to cook it on top
of the stove and then I'm going to throw it
in the oven. This fratata, you'll need a nice big pan,
maybe twenty six centimeters. We're using five eggs, five large eggs,
so this is easily going to feed sort of four
to six maybe even more. People. Heat a good slot.
I use a total of about a quarter of a
cup of olive oil and this recipe. Eat half of
(03:07):
that in a pan and throw in a thinly sliced onion.
And you want to really cook that until it's beautiful
and kind of soft. You don't necessarily need to get
lots of color on it. I'm using two big potatoes
in here. This is definitely the way the Spanish do it.
So they'll put potato in a frittata, and I instead
of cook pre cooking the potatoes instead, I just peel
(03:27):
them and then I either slice them really thinly. I'm
not talking about by hand. I'm probably talking about with
a mandolin. Or I chopped them roughly and put them
in a food processor and you poles it until they're
kind of chopped into tiny, little pea sized pieces. They
haven't gone to mush, but they are really small. Because
we want these to cook in the egg. Whisk five
(03:48):
eggs into a big old bowl, throw in some roseman
about two tablespoons of fresh rose brief you've got it,
good teaspoon of sea salt, and cart of a teaspoon
of cracked pepper, so lots of seasoning in here, and
then add your potatoes into that and toss them really well.
For each tiny little piece of that potato is getting
beautifully surrounded in the egg. Add in your softened onions
(04:10):
from the pan, stir all that up to combine, and
then heat the rest of the oil in the back
in that pan, and then pour in that beautiful mixture.
Reduce the heaterd bit heat jack. You don't want to
split the eggs, so reduce the heat to about, you know,
sort of low to medium I suppose for about ten minutes,
and it'll start to just cook around the edges and
then lay your asparagus. You can chop it off if
(04:32):
you like, but I kind of visual appeal of putting
the long spheres all across the pan. It's just beautiful,
nice big half a cup of hated cheddar use a
really good New Zealand one. I'm talking maybe Carpety. They've
got a good age cheddar berries Bay something like that.
And then so put that on the tobaco for about
twenty twenty five minutes. It'll be set in the middle,
(04:53):
rest it for ten minutes, and then cut it up
into lovely big weages and serve it hot or at
room temperature. It's fantastic with maybe a chutney, maybe a
little salad on the side, but it's absolutely exquisite and
really highlights that asparagus.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, it's great, fantastic, Yeah, So how's the balance between
the asparagus and the cheeddah because especially yeah, yeah, there's a.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, because it's nice and sharp. You know, chetder good
a good age. Chetter is nice and sharp. And as
I say, asparagus, once cooked, kind of brings up a flavor.
It's sort of whole. I don't know, it's just weird.
It holds its own. I always think of it. It's
a little bit like white bait. It holds its own
even though it's a delicate flavor. And I think sort
of asparagus is a little bit like that as well.
You wouldn't say that it's rich, so you can put
(05:37):
it with rich ingredients. You know, eggs are rich, butter's rich.
Potatoes are kind of clunky in their own way, kind
of big flavor.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So no, it's beautiful. It's really lovely and nice little
lunch or dinner or something like that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So yeah, pretty good. Okay, Hey for you, NICKI have
a great weekend. We'll make sure that asparagus and cheddar
for Tata recipe is up on the news talks. He'd
be website. Everything from our show goes up there. It's
really easy. You don't ever have to be scribbling notes
or writing little messages into your phone and texting yourself
or anything like that. News Talks he'd be dot co,
dot nz Forward slash Jack has everything from our shows,
(06:09):
so you'll be able to find all of Nikki's recipes,
including that delicious asparagus and cheddar for retata.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks, that'd be.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
If you're looking for a creative little recipe, something seasonal,
something delicious. Nicky Wax, our cook, has the recipe for
you this week, and she's with us now kill good.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Morning, good morning. Yes it is the It is the
time for those beautiful green spears.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
I love that, Yes, yes.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I love them. Are you a fair awful? Do you
know what?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I think?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I've said this before when I was growing up my parents,
who are amazing cooks, each of them are amazing cooks.
But in my earlier years, I think that the way
that they made asparagus the sort of I don't think
they boiled it, but it sort of had a slightly
stewed quality when we eat at our place, and you'd
you'd be killing it and be like you'd be pulling
the individual strings of it, kind of flossing with its
(00:59):
days there afterwards. And so, but then when I was
about do you know what, I actually have this this
kind of seminal baragus memory, I remember, for the first
time in my life having had asparagus that had just
been very very quickly roasted in butter and I remember
eating it and being like, oh my god, but that
is not how I've been eating asparagus. And I can
(01:21):
remember where I was. I can remember where I was
sitting at the table when I ate it. It was
so delicious, you know, that.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Is a moment. Was that in New Zealand?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It was?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It was actually I was. I was staying with a
friend's grandma and Charleston on the south west coast. I
literally remember where I was sitting at the table.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Great, I love it. I mean my life is full
of those food memories because you know, you do associate
them with where you were and who you were with
or whatever. Yeah, well that is the way to cook
them is not to murder them. They do go stringy.
And also your parents might have been I wonder if
they were also trying to save a bit of money.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
I think they probably were. And to be fair to
my parents, they have the way they cook asparagus now
as much come along much closer to the to the
lab right, I mean that.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Was back in the days when we also cooked over
cart exactly. Now. Look, I think asparagus goes really well
with eggs, so you'll often find sort of a nice
poached egg which is not my shtick at all on
an asparagus. But I've put it in a fratata here
because i like my eggs kind of a bit more cooked,
as it were. I think asparagus goes really well with fish.
(02:24):
So it's so grassy and light and kind of you know,
I don't know, it's just it's earthy, you know. But
it also is very gentle in some ways as well,
so you know, it can be good with those sorts
of things. With butter. It's great as well. Make a
nioise salad, but put instead of green beans, you can
use asparagus. But look, here's this fritata, so deep easy
(02:44):
ovan on because I'm going to cook it on top
of the stove and then I'm going to throw it
in the oven. This fratata, you'll need a nice big pan,
maybe twenty six centimeters. We're using five eggs, five large eggs,
so this is easily going to feed sort of four
to six maybe even more. People. Heat a good slot.
I use a total of about a quarter of a
cup of olive oil and this recipe. Eat half of
(03:07):
that in a pan and throw in a thinly sliced onion.
And you want to really cook that until it's beautiful
and kind of soft. You don't necessarily need to get
lots of color on it. I'm using two big potatoes
in here. This is definitely the way the Spanish do it.
So they'll put potato in a frittata, and I instead
of cook pre cooking the potatoes instead, I just peel
(03:27):
them and then I either slice them really thinly. I'm
not talking about by hand. I'm probably talking about with
a mandolin. Or I chopped them roughly and put them
in a food processor and you poles it until they're
kind of chopped into tiny, little pea sized pieces. They
haven't gone to mush, but they are really small. Because
we want these to cook in the egg. Whisk five
(03:48):
eggs into a big old bowl, throw in some roseman
about two tablespoons of fresh rose brief you've got it,
good teaspoon of sea salt, and cart of a teaspoon
of cracked pepper, so lots of seasoning in here, and
then add your potatoes into that and toss them really well.
For each tiny little piece of that potato is getting
beautifully surrounded in the egg. Add in your softened onions
(04:10):
from the pan, stir all that up to combine, and
then heat the rest of the oil in the back
in that pan, and then pour in that beautiful mixture.
Reduce the heaterd bit heat jack. You don't want to
split the eggs, so reduce the heat to about, you know,
sort of low to medium I suppose for about ten minutes,
and it'll start to just cook around the edges and
then lay your asparagus. You can chop it off if
(04:32):
you like, but I kind of visual appeal of putting
the long spheres all across the pan. It's just beautiful,
nice big half a cup of hated cheddar use a
really good New Zealand one. I'm talking maybe Carpety. They've
got a good age cheddar berries Bay something like that.
And then so put that on the tobaco for about
twenty twenty five minutes. It'll be set in the middle,
(04:53):
rest it for ten minutes, and then cut it up
into lovely big weages and serve it hot or at
room temperature. It's fantastic with maybe a chutney, maybe a
little salad on the side, but it's absolutely exquisite and
really highlights that asparagus.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, it's great, fantastic, Yeah, So how's the balance between
the asparagus and the cheeddah because especially yeah, yeah, there's a.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, because it's nice and sharp. You know, chetder good
a good age. Chetter is nice and sharp. And as
I say, asparagus, once cooked, kind of brings up a flavor.
It's sort of whole. I don't know, it's just weird.
It holds its own. I always think of it. It's
a little bit like white bait. It holds its own
even though it's a delicate flavor. And I think sort
of asparagus is a little bit like that as well.
You wouldn't say that it's rich, so you can put
(05:37):
it with rich ingredients. You know, eggs are rich, butter's rich.
Potatoes are kind of clunky in their own way, kind
of big flavor.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
So no, it's beautiful. It's really lovely and nice little
lunch or dinner or something like that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So yeah, pretty good. Okay, Hey for you, NICKI have
a great weekend. We'll make sure that asparagus and cheddar
for Tata recipe is up on the news talks. He'd
be website. Everything from our show goes up there. It's
really easy. You don't ever have to be scribbling notes
or writing little messages into your phone and texting yourself
or anything like that. News Talks he'd be dot co,
dot nz Forward slash Jack has everything from our shows,
(06:09):
so you'll be able to find all of Nikki's recipes,
including that delicious asparagus and cheddar for retata.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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