Baked eggs with faux morcilla

A few days ago, while browsing Instagram, I found a very curious recipe I didn't know: summer blood sausage or mock blood sausage. It's a typical Murcian recipe made during the summer months. Its peculiarity is that it doesn’t contain any meat, but it's made with onion, eggplant, pine nuts and spices. The same ones used in the blood sausage made in the region, hence its name.

As it caught my attention and all the comments were positive, I got to work to experiment with how this mock blood sausage would work with some eggs. I have enriched the recipe with small cubes of jamón ibérico and the result has been excellent, although you can omit the ham if you prefer.

You can vary the amount of spices to your liking, although I recommend not overdoing the cinnamon, as it has a very strong flavor that dominates the rest. A pinch will be more than enough. You can be more generous with the oregano and cumin, and even experiment with others. That said, serve these eggs in some mini cocottes. Their size makes them perfect for these preparations and they look very elegant on the table.

skillet skillet Le Creuset, mini Le Creuset pepper mill, Le Creuset wooden cutting board and Le Creuset ceramic mini cocottes.

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 2 eggplants
• A handful of pine nuts
• 50gr of jamón ibérico in small cubes
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 generous tablespoon of oregano
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• Salt
• 100ml white wine
• 500ml water
• 4 eggs
• Chives to garnish

Le Creuset wooden cutting board, Le Creuset Damascus steel knife and Le Creuset ceramic mini cocottes.

Preparation

1. Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (without oil) and set aside.
2. Chop the onion into small dice. Put oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Let it sauté over medium heat.
3. While the onion is sautéing, cut the eggplant into small dice. When the onion is translucent, add the eggplant and let it sauté for 5 minutes over medium heat. Make a well in the center and add the spices to toast them a little. This will enhance their aroma.
4. Add the white wine and the pine nuts and let the alcohol evaporate. Stir every few minutes with the help of a silicone spatula.
5. When the wine has evaporated, add half of the water and let the whole Set cook slowly. When the water has evaporated, add the rest. In total, you'll need to cook your faux blood sausage for about 40 minutes to achieve the texture we're looking for.
6. When all the liquid has evaporated, add the cubes of ham and give it a couple of stirs. Adjust the salt if necessary.
7. Divide your mock blood sausage into 4 mini cocottes and make a well in the center. Crack an egg into each mini casserole and bake for 10 minutes, with heat from above and below at 220º.
8. Remove from the oven and garnish with a little chopped chives. Serve accompanied by some slices of bread.