20 best egg recipes: part 3 | Eggs (2024)

You don’t need to use fancy bread for this recipe – a basic white bloomer or a soft white bread works best because it can be squeezed to enclose the filling. These mozzarella sandwiches are dipped in egg and then shallow-fried, making them deliciously soft and gooey. They are perfect snacks for children – as well as being a delicious antipasti to serve to adults with drinks.

Makes 6-8 fingers
white bread 4 slices
buffalo mozzarella 4 slices (about 1 × 125g ball)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
dried marjoram 2 pinches (optional)
chilli flakes a pinch (optional)
anchovy fillets 4 (optional)
eggs 2
olive oil 2 tbsp

Top with the remaining slices of bread and squeeze the pieces of bread together to seal, especially around the edges. Cut each sandwich into 3 or 4 fingers.

Beat the eggs in a shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. Lay the sandwich fingers in the egg, turning to coat and soak for just a few minutes.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the sandwiches for a couple of minutes on each side, until they become crisp and brown and the mozzarella starts to ooze out. Sprinkle with salt to serve.
From Egg by Blanche Vaughan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £22)

Rowley Leigh’s gruyere and parmesan souffles

Serves 6
milk 300ml
cloves 6
nutmeg a pinch, freshly grated
white pepper to taste
salt to taste
eggs 5
double cream 50ml
butter 75g
plain flour 30g
gruyere or emmenthal cheese 40g, coarsely grated
parmesan 50g, finely grated
lemon juice a squeeze

Place the souffle moulds in the freezer for half an hour.

Separate the eggs and mix the yolks in a bowl with the double cream.

Melt the remaining butter and brush the interiors of the souffle moulds very thoroughly with the butter. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan in the moulds and rotate them in order to ensure an even coating. Place the moulds in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt to the egg whites. Whisk the egg whites – preferably with an electric mixer – until they form stiff shiny peaks. Remove the film from the cheese mixture and whisk in a small amount of egg white, whisking vigorously to make a smooth mixture. Now add the remaining white and very gently cut and fold the mixtures together, making the mixture as hom*ogenous as possible without losing volume. Spoon the mixture into the chilled souffle moulds. Smooth the surface with a palette knife before running a little knife around the top of the inside perimeter of the moulds to prevent the mixture sticking to the sides as it rises. The souffles can be chilled for up to an hour in the fridge at this juncture.

Pour some boiling water into an oven tray. Place the souffles, spaced apart, in the tray and then bake the souffles for 11-13 minutes, by which time they should be well risen and firm to the touch. Serve immediately.
Rowley Leigh is a chef and author of A Long and Messy Business (Unbound, £25)

Giorgio Locatelli’s spaghetti carbonara

Chop the guanciale or pancetta.

Begin to cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water. In a sauté pan, heat the butter, then put in the guanciale or pancetta and fry until golden and crispy. Take off the heat, and lift out the guanciale or pancetta to a warm plate, so that it stays crunchy.

Beat the egg yolks and a whole egg in a warm bowl with the grated pecorino romano.

One minute before the spaghetti is ready, start to mix in a ladleful of the cooking water at a time until the eggs and cheese become creamy.

Drain the pasta (but reserve the cooking water) and toss it in the pan of pepper, together with the reserved guanciale or pancetta.

Add a little more cooking water if the pasta seems too dry, then transfer it to the bowl of eggs and cheese and toss well, until coated in the silky mixture. The heat of the spaghetti will cook the eggs without scrambling them. Add more black pepper, if you like.
From Made at Home by Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate, £26)

Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich’s green shakshuka

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan (I use a 22cm frying pan) on a medium-high heat. Add the leek and sauté to soften – it will take 3-4 minutes – then start adding the spinach, a large handful at a time. Stir between each addition to wilt it. It may seem as if it will never fit in the pan, but as it wilts there will be hardly any volume left. Finally add the chopped herbs and mix them in to wilt, too. The whole process will take about 6-8 minutes, depending on the leaves you are using; just make sure they are soft by the end of it.

Remove the frying pan from the stove and season with the garlic and some salt and pepper. You can set this aside until you are ready to eat and the table is set; it will also keep in the fridge until later.

Heat the spinach mixture again and use a spoon to create 4 little wells in the cooked leaves, one in each quarter. Crack an egg into each well, season the eggs with a touch of salt and pepper and cover the pan. Cook on a low heat until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny – about 3-4 minutes. Serve straight away. You can drizzle with some yogurt and sumac or serve it as is. It’s delicious either way.
From Honey & Co At Home by Sarit Packer & Itamar Srulovich (Pavilion Books, £26)

Blanche Vaughan’s custard tart

For the custard
egg yolks 7
caster sugar 50g
double cream 450ml
vanilla pod 1
nutmeg for grating

To make the pastry, mix the butter and sugar with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer or in a large bowl with a hand-held blender, until smooth and creamy.

Add the egg yolk and continue to mix so it is well combined.

Add the flour and mix briefly, then scoop the mixture into a clean bowl, add a tablespoon of cold water and, using your hands, bring the pastry together. Add another tablespoon of water if necessary to form a cohesive but firm dough. Wrap in clingfilm and allow to rest for at least an hour or overnight in the fridge.

Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 150C/gas mark 2.

Line the pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes, until golden and sandy textured. Leave to cool while you prepare the custard.

In a large bowl, whisk the yolks and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Put the cream into a pan, slit the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape the seeds into the cream. (Place the empty pod in a jar of caster sugar to make vanilla sugar.)

Heat the cream until it just starts to come to the boil, then pour it in a thin stream into the yolks, whisking as you do. Return the whole mixture to the pan and heat very gently, stirring continuously, until it thickens slightly.

Strain the custard into a jug. If there are any lumps in the custard (caused by cooking it at too high a temperature), give it a whizz with a handheld blender until it is completely smooth.

Pour the custard into the baked tart shell and return to the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the filling feels firm but still a little wobbly to the touch. Grate the nutmeg all over the surface and allow to cool completely. (The custard will set further.) Once cooled, cut and serve.
From Egg by Blanche Vaughan (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £22)

• OFM’s 20 best egg recipes part 4 launches tomorrow morning