No, I’m not talking about the painted kind (although Pille from Nami-Nami has some gorgeous marbled, beet-dyed eggs that I’m tempted to try), or the little plastic ones you hide money and candy in for Easter egg hunts. I’m 
talking about the good old, brown, white, speckled or blue variety that are laid religiously by our feathered friends and enjoyed, gratefully, by lucky us.
I have a special affinity for eggs, since it was an egg that triggered my first culinary epiphany. Nothing fancy, nothing frothed. Just a humble fried egg.
I was living in Greece, in a small village on Corfu, with my ex-boyfriend/fiance and his family at the time. One morning, Mama came to the table with fried eggs for everyone. They looked just like every fried egg I’d ever seen before; patches of golden over the yolk with crispy, ruffled edges. I didn’t think twice about it as I lifted the first bite to my mouth. But as soon as it hit my tastebuds, it was as if the heavens had opened and angels descended. There was so much flavor I thought there must be something in there other than just . . . egg.
So I turned on Mama and asked, a bit frantically I admit, “what is in here? How did you do this?”
Mama calmly answered, “I fried an egg in olive oil.”
I was unconvinced, but returned to my plate nonetheless, while the family exchanged looks that implied, “see, I told you these Americans were nuts.”
What Mama had failed to mention at the time, and what I only realized later, was that the olive oil she’d used just happen to come from the ouzo bottle that had been filled with oil from their own groves, and that the egg just happened to come from the hen down the street. It was my first—and to this day probably most profound—lesson in how incredible humble food can be when it’s as fresh as fresh as can be.
Here in Healdsburg, a decade and a half later, I still try to find the freshest eggs that I can. I hound my friends with chicken coops while secretly pining for my own. I show up at the farmers market with cartons for collecting random eggs from vendors (when I remember). And when I still come up empty, I look for any local eggs my local market might have on hand.
Once in the kitchen, I like to whisk a yolk into a garlicky vinaigrette to transform it from simple to sublime. Or add a fried egg to the top of a mushroom pizza and drizzle it all with truffle oil just to see the effect it has on my husband. Or serve them poached on top of a frisee salad with lardons. Ah.
But my favorite ways with eggs are still the simplest ones, and you can’t get much more simple than this pasta. You’ll be amazed at what that little bit of yolk does for richness. For the best possible flavor, use really good olive oil, aged Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and, of course, the freshest eggs you can find.
{ Pasta Aioli }
1/2 pound whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup oven-roasted tomatoes, sliced thin
2 tablespoons chicken stock
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon minced parsley
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, cutting back 2 minutes on cooking time. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, warm oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute until mixture begins to sizzle, remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk, tomatoes, chicken stock, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
4. Return drained pasta to pot over medium-low heat. Add egg mixture and toss. Add garlic mixture and garlic mixture and salt; toss again. Cook 2 minutes or until sauce thickens and starts to stick to pasta (if it gets too thick, thin it out with some of the pasta water). Toss with parsley just before serving.
Serves 4
This post is also my entry to Ruth’s Presto Pasta Nights from Once Upon a Feast. Bon Appetit!
11 Comments
Great post and you are soooooo right. Nothing tastes better than simple, fresh ingredients. Thanks for reminding us and thanks for sharing a great dish with Presto Pasta Nights.
What a great recipe! And also really great links (poached eggs and oven-roasted tomatoes — two delicacies I’ve been meaning to perfect in my own kitchen). Thanks!
I have to say, a poached egg over salad changes it from blah, to gourmet instantly. I recently had a poached over over homemade pasta and I was speechless.
I really enjoyed reading this post. I agree, that once you have something that is as fresh as it can be it really changes how you look at food and cooking completely. I can’t wait for the farmer’s markets and roadside stands to open up… the best stuff comes from the farmer’s themselves.
What a lovely story. And I think everyone should be able to tell a tale about how they once lived in Greece! How exotic! I love to do fun things with eggs too, especially for lunch. Your pasta sounds yummy!
Sounds good, Preston Vineyard on West Dry Creek always has fresh organic eggs. The only thing I have never been able to see quality in is whole wheat pasta. Italian quality pasta is always made form the lightest semolina flour. I guess being Italian has left me with my own ideas, at least more ethnic. I do agree quality ingredients always make a huge difference!
We use whole wheat pasta because my husband is diabetic. That would be the “quality” I look for. My family does not like the taste however.
I’m making Easter eggs as I type - using beet juice to color actual egg. And making deviled eggs with them. My family loves deviled eggs. I miss my mother-in-law’s hens and eggs. . . .
steph
Ah, there is nothing like a super-fresh fried egg..as for that pasta recipe I have to take issue with the serving size. Serves 4 what? In my house that would more likely serve one! We use a entire box of pasta for the three of us!
I hear you about good eggs! I used to be strictly a scrambled eggs kind of guy. I didn’t know any better, but the idea of everything else just seemed….wrong. Then I started baking, and what do you know, this dessert calls for raw egg whites. Hmm….doesn’t sit well with me, but fine, I’ll do it. Hey, I survived and it was amazing. Then on to poached eggs. Whoa! Runny, but amazing. Huevos rancheros. OMG! And so it continues…
So what I’m trying to say, is that pasta sounds delicious! You had me at eggs, lol
Oh yes, I’ve had exactly the experience you’ve described so well. The Greeks calmly explained to me that the eggs taste so good because the chickens eat so many wild greens which, they say, seasons the egg from the inside out. Whatever the cause, the taste of those village eggs is truly something special.
Oh man, I wrote a nice long response to all of you days ago and it’s not here! Where did it go?
Ruth . . . Thank YOU for creating Presto Pasta Nights!
Court . . . Glad you liked the links. Give the one for marbled eggs a try too. I did it this weekend and they were beautiful.
Noble Pig . . . Right there with ya.
Patsy . . . I’m counting the days until the farmers’ markets open!
Recipe Girl . . . Well now you’ve got me curious about your lunch recipes!
Mark . . . Oh yea, Preston is a stand-by. And I too love Italian pasta. But for our every day pastas, we tend to use Barilla Plus because it’s made from whole grains and has a full flavor and good texture. But when we’re wanting something special, we pull out our matarello and pasta board and roll out some gorgeous egg pasta. My husband and I were once hatching an idea for an artisanal pasta shop in Healdsburg, so we took several weeks and traveled through Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria and the Abruzzo learning from nonnas, restaurant owners, chefs, etc. how to make different regional pastas. We bought a couple matarellos (that’s a story about getting those through security!) and a pasta board and love–LOVE–making fresh pasta with just-laid eggs and a mixture of all-purpose and pastry flour (the closest match we could find to ‘tipo-00′ from Italy).
Steph . . . Give Barilla Plus a try. I like it the best out of the whole grain pasta on offer.
Izzy’s Mama . . . Go nutty!
Mike . . . So glad you’re on the egg adoration program! There’s so much to discover . . .
Laurie . . . I believe them!