20 best egg recipes: part 2 | Eggs (2024)

You can vary the vegetables used in the filling for these tarts and replace the potatoes with roast pumpkin or even cooked okra (ladies’ fingers) or peas.

Makes 12 x 8-10cm individual tarts
For the pastry dough
plain flour 500g
salt 1 tsp
unsalted butter 250g
egg yolk 1
water 125-250ml
butter for greasing
plain flour for dusting

For the filling
curry powder 1 tbsp
single cream 1.5 litres
dijon mustard 2 tbsp
eggs 8
egg yolks 2
grated nutmeg a pinch
salt ½ tsp
ground black pepper
cheddar 250g, grated
cauliflower 2-3 heads, broken into small florets, blanched and drained
potatoes 500g, diced, boiled and drained
fresh coriander 1 bunch, coarsely chopped

Grease 12 x 8-10cm individual tart tins with butter. Roll out the dough to about 5mm thick on a lightly floured surface and cut 12 rounds to fit the prepared tart tins. Ease them into the tins and trim off any excess dough. Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Line the pastry cases with foil or baking paper and fill with dried beans, baking beans or rice.

Bake blind for 30-35 minutes, till the base is light, golden and dry. Remove from the oven, take out the weights and lining and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, stir the curry powder into the cream, then beat in the mustard, eggs, egg yolks, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.

Divide the cheese among the pastry cases, then add the cauliflower, potatoes and most of the coriander. Cover with the egg mixture and top with the remaining coriander.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until firm and golden. Remove from the oven and serve immediately or let cool.
From How To Boil An Egg by Fiona Strickland and Rose Carrarini (Phaidon Press, £22.95)

Nathan Outlaw’s English salad

For the salad cream
egg yolks 2
English mustard 2 tsp
caster sugar 2 tsp
lemon juice 2 tbsp
light olive oil 100ml
double cream 150ml

To make the salad cream, put the egg yolks, mustard, sugar and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually add the olive oil, drop by drop to begin with and then in a steady stream until it is all incorporated. Slowly whisk in the cream and season with salt to taste. Cover and refrigerate until required.

To cook the beetroot, put them into a pan with the malt vinegar, cover with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 25-30 minutes until tender.

Once the beetroot are cooked, remove them from the pan and leave until cool enough to handle, then peel away the skin.

Peel and slice the cucumber and place in a large bowl. Cut out the stalk end from the tomatoes and slice each one into 8 wedges. Add to the bowl along with the spring onions, radishes and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to mix.

Scatter the salad veg over a large serving platter. Cut the boiled eggs in half lengthways and arrange across the salad. Slice the beetroot and lay the slices on the salad. Add drizzles of salad cream and scatter over the mustard and cress. Serve the rest of the dressing separately for everyone to help themselves.
From Nathan Outlaw’s Home Kitchen by Nathan Outlaw (Quadrille, £20)

Fuchsia Dunlop’s purple seaweed and egg ‘flower’ soup

Serves 2 as Western style starter, 4 as part of Chinese meal
vegetarian stock 1 litre
dried purple laver seaweed 1 disc (nori in Japanese)
fresh ginger 20g, peeled and slivered
salt and white pepper
egg 1
spring onion 1, green part only, finely sliced

Heat the stock with the seaweed and ginger and simmer gently as the seaweed reconstitutes itself. Tease the tightly massed disc apart with a pair of chopsticks, so the seaweed drifts in strands in the liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Beat the egg well. Turn the heat down to a minimum, drizzle in the egg into the soup in a thin spiralling stream across the surface. Then turn off the heat, cover the pan tightly and leave for a minute to allow the egg to set into little flakes or “flowers”.

Serve immediately with a sprinkling of spring onion.
From The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook by Fuchsia Dunlop (Ebury Press, £30)

Asma Khan’s anda curry – hard-boiled eggs in gravy

If you keep your eggs in the refrigerator, take them out 30 minutes before cooking to bring them to room temperature. Fill a large pan with water and bring to a rolling boil over a high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer, then place the eggs in the water and cook for 12 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs from the pan and place in cold running water to prevent further cooking. When they’re cool enough to handle, shell the eggs.

In a shallow saucepan, heat the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the hard-boiled eggs and cook until they are speckled all over with brown patches. Remove the eggs from the pan and set aside.

Add the chopped onions, garlic and ginger to the pan, cook for a further 5 minutes until the onion mixture has softened and coloured to a light brown. Continue to stir while cooking to prevent the onions from burning and sticking to the base of the pan. If the onion mixture does stick to the base of the pan, sprinkle over some water.

Add the ground turmeric, coriander and chilli powder. Cook, stirring, for 10-20 seconds or until the “raw” smell of the turmeric has disappeared, taking care not to let the ground spices burn. Pour over 200ml cold water and increase the heat to high.

Once any excess water has evaporated, lower the heat. To avoid any lumps in the sauce, stir the yogurt before adding it to the pan. Stir to mix evenly and then season with salt. Lastly, add the hard boiled eggs to the pan and allow to heat through. Before serving, scatter over plenty of fresh herbs.
From Asma’s Indian Kitchen by Asma Khan (Pavilion Books, £20)

Nigel Slater’s lemon cream-cheese mousse cake

For the mousse
eggs 4 medium
caster sugar 150g
lemons 2 large
gelatine 5 sheets (9g)
full-fat cream cheese 250g
double cream 250ml
rose petals a handful

You will need a round 20-22cm cake tin with a removable base, lined on the base with a disc of baking parchment.

In a dry, shallow pan, toast the flaked almonds until golden, then remove from the heat. Crush the biscuits to fine crumbs, either in a plastic freezer bag with a rolling pin, or using a food processor.

Melt the butter, then add the crumbs and flaked almonds, and mix thoroughly. Transfer the mixture to the lined cake tin, pressing it in a thin layer over the base. Chill for an hour.

Juice the lemons – you will need 125ml. Soak the gelatine in a bowl of cool water. Warm the lemon juice in a small saucepan and remove from the heat. Lift the softened gelatine from the water (it should be a soft, quivery mass, only just solid enough to pick up) and drop it into the warm juice. Stir until it is dissolved.

Add the cream cheese to the yolk-and-sugar mixture, beating until completely smooth, then add the lemon juice and gelatine. Whip the cream until it’s thick enough to sit in soft waves (not quite thick enough to stand in stiff peaks), then fold gently into the mixture. Beat the egg whites until stiff, then fold them in carefully and thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the chilled cake tin (it should come almost to the top), then cover tightly with clingfilm and chill overnight. (Make sure you don’t have anything garlicky in the fridge – mousse-type dishes will pick up the scent overnight.)

The next day, run a warm palette knife around the edge of the cake to release it from the edges, then remove it carefully from the tin. Decorate with the rose petals.

Note that the cake is wobbly and fragile, so keep it chilled until you intend to serve it, and use a cake slice to serve it.
Nigel Slater is the Observer’s food writer

• OFM’s 20 best egg recipes part 3 launches tomorrow morning