Baked eggs with faux morcilla

A few days ago, while browsing Instagram, I came across a very unusual recipe I hadn’t seen before: summer blood sausage, or faux blood sausage. It’s a typical recipe from Murcia and is made during the summer months. What makes it special is that it contains no meat at all, but is made with onion, eggplant, pine nuts, and spices. The same spices used in the blood sausage made in the region, hence the name.

Since it caught my attention so much and all the comments were positive, I got to work to see how well this faux blood sausage would turn out with some eggs. I have enriched the recipe with some diced Iberian ham and the result has been excellent, although you can leave out the ham if you prefer.

You can vary the amount of spices to taste, although I recommend not overdoing the cinnamon, as it has a very strong flavor that overpowers 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 mini cocottes. Their size makes them perfect for these dishes and they look very elegant on the table.

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

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 2 eggplants
• A handful of pine nuts
• 50gr diced Iberian ham
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 generous tablespoon of oregano
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• Salt
• 100ml white wine
• 500ml water
• 4 eggs
• Chives for 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 pan (without oil) and set aside.
2. Dice the onion into small cubes. Add oil to a deep pan and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Let it sauté over medium heat.
3. While the onion is sautéing, cut the eggplant into small cubes. Once 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 slightly. This will bring out 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. Once the wine has evaporated, add half of the water and let the whole Set cook slowly. Once 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 we are looking for.
6. Once all the liquid has evaporated, add the diced ham and give it a couple of stirs. Adjust the salt if necessary.
7. Divide your faux blood sausage among 4 mini cocottes and make a well in the center. Crack an egg into each mini casserole and bake for 10 minutes, with top and bottom heat at 220º.
8. Remove from the oven and garnish with a little chopped chives. Serve with slices of bread.