Plated eggs with false black pudding

A few days ago, while browsing Instagram, I found a very curious recipe that I had never heard of: summer morcilla or false morcilla. It is a typical recipe from Murcia and is made during the summer. Its peculiarity is that it does not contain any meat, but is made with onion, eggplant, pine nuts and spices. The same ones that are used in the morcilla made in the region, hence its name.

Since it caught my attention and all the comments were positive, I got to work to see how this fake blood sausage would work with some eggs . I enriched the recipe with some diced Iberian ham and the result was excellent, although you can do without the ham if you prefer.

You can vary the amount of spices as you wish, although I recommend that you do not overuse the cinnamon, as it has a very strong flavour that predominates over the rest. A pinch will be more than enough. You can be more generous with the oregano and cumin, and you can even experiment with others. However, serve these eggs in mini cocottes . Their size makes them perfect for these preparations and they look very elegant on the table.

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

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 2 eggplants
• A handful of pine nuts
• 50g of Iberian ham in cubes
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 generous tablespoon of oregano
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• Salt
• 100ml white wine
• 500ml water
• 4 eggs
• Chives to decorate

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

Elaboration

1. Toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (without oil) and set aside.
2. Dice the onion into small cubes. Put oil in a deep frying pan and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Allow to fry over medium heat.
3. While the onion is frying, cut the eggplant into small cubes. When the onion is transparent, add the eggplant and fry for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Make a hole in the centre and add the spices to toast them a little. This will enhance their aroma.
4. Add the white wine and pine nuts and let the alcohol evaporate. Stir every few minutes with a silicone spatula .
5. When the wine has evaporated, add half of the water and let the whole mixture cook slowly. When the water has evaporated, add the rest. In total, you will need to cook your fake blood sausage for about 40 minutes to achieve the texture you are looking for.
6. When all the liquid has evaporated, add the diced ham and stir a couple of times. Adjust the salt if necessary.
7. Divide your fake black pudding into 4 mini cocottes and make a hole in the centre. Crack an egg into each mini cocotte and bake for 10 minutes, with the top and bottom heat at 220º.
8. Remove from the oven and decorate with a little chopped chives. Serve with a few slices of bread.