Italian marinated eggs, an easy make-ahead appetizer. Boiled eggs soak in an olive oil marinade of garlic, parsley and anchovy. Serve on crusty bread.
- 40 quail eggs one per bite, the version I make
- 6 large eggs if you cannot find quail; deep orange yolks if you can get them
- 1 tsp salt for the cooking water
- 1 cup parsley chopped fine
- 1 head of garlic peeled and chopped fine or pressed
- 6 anchovy fillets chopped fine
- 4 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup olive oil or enough to cover the eggs in your jar
- 2 Tbsp vinegar white wine or apple cider
- 2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
- 1 chili pepper seeds removed for mild heat
- 1/2 tsp sugar
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Boil the eggs. Add 1 tsp salt to the water first (Note 1), then time the eggs from the moment it boils.• Quail eggs: let 40 quail eggs sit out a few minutes so the cold shells do not crack, then lower them into boiling salted water with a spoon. Cook them 2 minutes for runny, 3 minutes for just jammy, or 4 minutes for hard-boiled.• Chicken eggs (if you cannot find quail): cover 6 large eggs, straight from the fridge, with water by 1/2 inch and bring to a boil. Cook them 5 minutes for hard-boiled, or 4 minutes for a jammy yolk.A runny yolk is delicate. These eggs get lifted in and out of a jar of oil, so go 3 minutes or more if they are coming out whole. (Note 2 for the steamer method.)
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Shock and peel. Move the eggs into ice water the moment the timer goes off and leave them 5 minutes.• Roll each egg on the counter to crack the shell all over.• Peel under cold running water so it works under the membrane.• Quail eggs have a tough membrane under a thin shell, so start at the wide end.Pat the eggs dry before they go into the marinade.
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Make the marinade. Chop 1 cup parsley, 1 head of garlic, 6 anchovy fillets and 1 chili pepper as fine as you can. Stir them with 4 Tbsp tomato paste, 2 Tbsp vinegar, 2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce and 1/2 tsp sugar, then whisk in 1 cup olive oil. Taste it before it goes on the eggs and add salt if needed; anchovies vary a lot in saltiness.
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Marinate overnight. Put the peeled eggs in a glass or ceramic container with a lid and pour the marinade over so they are covered. Wiggle the container so the marinade settles into every gap between the eggs, then refrigerate overnight. The eggs are edible right away, so this rest is for the marinade flavors rather than the eggs (Note 3).
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Serve. Spoon plenty of the marinade over the eggs, parsley and garlic bits included. Quail eggs go whole on a slice of crusty baguette, one to a bite. Cut chicken eggs in half or into thick rounds. (Note 5 for the leftover marinade.)
1. Why salt the water. Salt does not stop a shell from cracking, it seals the crack once it happens. The leaking white hits the salty water and sets on contact instead of streaming out. Use about 1 teaspoon per 8 cups of water. Worth doing every time with quail eggs, since their thin shells crack easily.
2. Steaming peels easier. Bring 1 inch of water under a steamer basket to a boil, add the eggs, and cook them 9 minutes for a jammy yolk or 12 minutes for hard-boiled. Give them the same ice bath after.
3. The rest is for the marinade. Flavor does not travel far into a boiled egg. The overnight lets the garlic, anchovy, parsley and chili come together, which is what you are really tasting.
4. Egg choice. Quail eggs are the traditional version and make the prettiest platter. Whichever you use, look for deep orange yolks. Older eggs peel far easier than very fresh ones.
5. Leftover marinade. Spoon it over crusty bread, or drop in fresh mozzarella balls and give them a day in the fridge. The mozzarella is my own spin, not the traditional version.
6. Nutrition. Figured on the quail egg version: about 7 quail eggs per serving, plus roughly 1 tablespoon of the marinade, which is about what clings and gets spooned over. Most of the oil stays in the jar, so it is not counted. Made with 6 large chicken eggs instead, a serving is one egg and comes closer to 155 calories, 13 g fat and 186 mg cholesterol. Quail eggs are tiny but rich, so seven of them push the cholesterol up fast. Spoon on more marinade and the numbers go up.
7. Storage. Keeps up to 5 days refrigerated in the marinade. Never store garlic in oil at room temperature. Take the jar out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving so the oil is not cloudy.