Gypsy Eggs
A wonderful Spanish Supper
Here’s a dish I am considering putting on one of the menus for anyone wanting a light supper dish with a difference. Gypsy Eggs or Huevos a la Flamenca is a great way of using leftover ingredients in the home kitchen. It is one of those dishes that you can really make your own by adding alternative meats, herbs or spices to suit your taste.
David Eyre, he of the original London gastropub, The Eagle regularly featured this dish on his cosmopolitan menu and consequently it has been a favourite of foodie pubs up and down the country.
The esscence of the dish is cooked chorizo sausage, ham and eggs all baked together in a flavoursome tomato sauce. Try and find a suitable ovenproof dish in which to cook and serve it in.
Recipe for Gypsy Eggs/Huevos a la Flamenca
Warm a glug of olive oil in a pan and fry some chopped chorizo sausage and slices of serrano ham together until nicely coloured. Take the meat out, return the pan to the heat with some extra oil and cook a finely chopped onion together with some sliced garlic and a teaspoon of Spanish paprika. Stir well until the onion is soft, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and season.
If you have any leftover cooked new potatoes then slice a few and add them to the sauce along with one or two vegetables of your choice (peas and broad beans are the veg of choice in Andalucia) Adjust the sauce with a little chicken stock then check the seasoning. Cook for about five minutes on low before spooning the sauce into ovenproof dishes. Crack two eggs per person over the sauce, place the fried meats in and around the eggs and sauce then bake in a preheated oven until the egg white has set.
Finish with some black pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and some extra paprika. Eat with warm, crusty bread.
Miles,
I expect there are different qualities of chorizo… do you recommend one in particular?
Cid
February 11, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
Cid,
Traditionally you are supposed to use an uncooked chorizo, I have never used these, personally I like the extra picante horseshoe ones.
Miles
February 11, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Hola,
As one who has grown up in California, with the strong influence of Mexico always present, I notice that you didn’t mention serving your Gypsy Eggs with flour tortillas as they do here. Perhaps it is a matter of being able to find such tortillas there. How easy is it to find Mexican food in your area?
February 11, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Annie,
When you refer to “flour tortillas”, do you mean plain ones or would you spread something on these?
Elsie
February 11, 2008 @ 8:59 pm
Annie,
Yes we can get flour tortillas over here but they are what they are, i.e shop bought mass produced. Mexican food in England is, by and large, bastardised for the English tastebuds which is a shame.
Miles
February 11, 2008 @ 11:43 pm