Oven-Roasted Eggs with Anchovy Vinaigrette

Have you ever heard of roasted eggs? Well, I have not but roasting is one of my favorite cooking methods and eggs are one of my favorite ingredients so within minutes of reading this recipe in The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen I took a carton of eggs out of the fridge and popped them in the oven. I was so intrigued to see what these would end up like!

While the eggs were roasting away in the oven I quickly made the Anchovy Vinaigrette, which is the suggested accompaniment and then did a little research. It seams roasted eggs are part of a traditional Passover meal. I found out that this way to make eggs is very old. But instead of cooking them in the oven, people used to bury them in hot ashes in the ground or stash them in the ashes of a fire place. I can't even imagine how to hook that up but my oven seemed to work out fine.

After finding out all this recipe I was even more curious. The cookbook mentions that the eggs will turn golden and then if you are serving on a platter you should take a few eggs out of the oven at a time. This way some will be lighter gold and the ones that stay in longer will be darker, which makes for a pretties presentation.

Finally after five hours I got to try one! They had a rich, almost smokey flavor. My eggs did not turn out egg-shaped... it seems as if they contracted on one side. Maybe this is because I did not use very fresh eggs as specified in the recipe, but eggs about to expire. It was interesting all the same. I ate two eggs with the anchovy vinaigrette and then realized how rich it all is so I toasted some bread and put slices of eggs on top of the bread and drizzled the vinaigrette on top. Yum!

Sephardic Oven-Roasted Eggs Serves 5 to 10 10 very fresh AA eggs Coarse sea salt Freshly ground pepper Anchovy Vinaigrette (optional)

Set the oven rack in the middle. Soak the eggs in warm water while preheating the oven to 225 degrees. Set the eggs directly on the rack. Bake 4 1/2 to 5 hours. Stagger the removal of the eggs from the oven if you would like the eggs to have a multihued effect (different golden shades).

Roll the eggs to crackle the shells, then drop them into a bowl of cold water to soak for 5 minutes. Slip off the shells, dry and place attractively on a colorful dish. Serve at room temperature with salt and pepper or the anchovy vinaigrette.


Anchovy Vinaigrette
Makes about 1/2 cup

6 salt-packed anchovies, cleaned and filleted, or 12 oil-packed flat anchovy fillets, drained, soaked in cool milky water, rinsed and drained.
1 garlic clove, crushed to a puree
1 Tbsp. mild wine vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
7 to 8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

In a small saucepan over low heat, crush the anchovy fillets with a wooden spoon or fork until creamy and smooth. Scrape them into a small bowl or blender jar. Add the garlic, vinegar, and pepper. With the machine on, gradually add the olive oil. Let the vinaigrette stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour before serving.