3 Egg Recipes That Jazz up Classic Dishes

Did you know there’s a World Egg Day? Well there is, and it just so happens to be October 14 — a brilliant opportunity to celebrate the humble egg. Eggs are a delicious, nutritious, affordable and sustainable staple that allow for incredible savoury and sweet dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Packed with essential nutrients, eggs are an incredibly versatile food — the options are truly endless. You can expand your egg repertoire with these three fabulous egg recipes from cookbook author Magdalena Roze, alongside her partner, chef Darren Robertson, of Three Blue Ducks.

Asparagus, Egg & Goat’s Cheese Tart

What you’ll need: 

• 4 eggs, plus 1 yolk
• 1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1 bunch asparagus, halved lengthways and ends trimmed
• 100g goat’s cheese
• 3 tbsp crème fraîche
• 2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp dill and parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pastry on the tray and gently score a 1.5cm border around the edge, being careful not to slice all the way through. Brush egg yolk around the border and bake for about 15 minutes until it starts to puff and looks golden.
2. Meanwhile, mix the olive oil and garlic in a bowl and place the asparagus in the mixture, to coat. Put the goat’s cheese, crème fraîche, mustard and zest from half the lemon in a food processor and whizz, or mix by hand, until smooth.
3. When you remove the puff pastry from the oven, use a tea towel to gently press down the inner puffed centre. This will become the base of the tart to put the filling on.
4. Spoon cheesy filling over the pastry, within the border, and then arrange a layer of asparagus, side by side, until all are used. Carefully crack each egg over the asparagus, keeping the yolk in tact. Top with herbs.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and the eggs are cooked (firm whites, runny yolk). Top the tart with more fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Serve with a fresh, simple salad of seasonal leaves.

Scrambled Egg Tacos

What you’ll need: 

• 8 eggs
• 1 tbsp butter (or ghee, if available)
• 1 packet of soft tortilla tacos
• 2 avocados
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/4 red onion, finely diced
• Handful coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lime
• Salt and pepper
• Grated cheese
• Crème fraîche
• Hot sauce or fresh chilli sliced, optional
• Lime wedges

Method:

1. Prepare the guacamole by scooping the avocado out into a bowl and mashing with a fork. Add the tomato, red onion, coriander, olive oil, and lime juice, and mix, then mash with a fork again, until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. For the tortillas, place a large skillet pan on high heat. When it’s steaming, place the tacos onto the pan and heat on each side for 10 seconds. Place on a plate and cover with a tea towel to keep warm. Continue until all tacos are warm.
3. For perfect scrambled eggs, whisk eggs in a bowl and heat butter (or ghee) in a pan. When it’s melted, pour the eggs into the pan. When you can see them starting to cook at the bottom, use a spatula to gently move the eggs into the middle of the pan, allowing the uncooked eggs to run onto the pan. Do this a couple of times for beautiful ribbons until the eggs are just-cooked. Transfer to a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To serve, grab a warm taco and fill it with the delicious scrambled eggs, top with guacamole, crème fraîche, cheese and a squeeze of lime. Adding a little hot sauce will give it a great kick too!

Crispy Fried Tandoori Eggs

What you’ll need: 

• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp butter (or ghee, if available)
• 1 pinch each of ground cumin, paprika, ginger and turmeric
• 1 large red chili, sliced
• 2 green shallots, thinly sliced on an angle
• 100g natural yoghurt
• 1 small Lebanese cucumber
• Half bunch coriander
• 1⁄2 a lime
• 1 cup of jasmine long grain rice
• Salt and pepper

Method:

1. Cook rice according to packet instructions, or use microwave rice and place in microwave.
2. Grate the cucumber over a bowl, add a pinch of salt and squeeze out the excess liquid.
3. Finely chop the coriander (leaves and stalks), fold into the cucumber, add the yogurt and a squeeze of lime.
4. Mix all the tandoori spices in a bowl, a good pinch of each makes about a teaspoon.
5. Heat the butter (or ghee) in a non-stick frying pan on high heat. Carefully add half of the shallot and chili, then crack in 4 eggs. Sprinkle over the tandoori spice blend, reduce the
   heat a little. The trick here is to keep it hot enough so the eggs are crispy fried. Carefully tiltthe pan and spoon a little butter (or ghee) over the eggs and spices. Season with salt and pepper. Once eggs are cooked, using an egg flipper, remove the crispy chili, shallot fried eggs from the pan and pop them onto a bowl plate of steamed rice.
6. Spoon over the yoghurt mixture and garnish with remaining chilli, shallot and butter (or ghee) from the pan with another little squeeze of fresh lime juice.

To get the most out of eggs, make sure you store them the right way.