Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Pasta with asparagus and quail egg

Once in a while, we do feel worn out with struggling with different cultures, customs and languages for too long. Take ordering a sandwich as an example. My husband wanted to order a "special" sandwich - bacon and egg. Tortilla de patatas (think of scrambled egg with sliced potatos) sandwich is on the menu, so as bacon sandwich. So could they omit the potatoes when they fry the egg, then put it, plus the bacon, into the bread? No. the cafe guy told my husband that it wasn't available.

Sometime I really admire the persistence of my husband.

He went back to the same cafe again. He asked if there's any tortilla prepared without potato. The cafe guy said yes, it's called tortilla francesa, which is, solo egg.

So my husband ordered a tortilla francesa & bacon sandwich. No problem. The guy brought out bacon and egg sandwich a few minutes later from the kitchen.

Back to this dish, you do whatever you want, chicken egg or quail egg, fried or hard-boiled, no pain no stress.

Normally, I like a big plate of hot pasta with sauteed asparagus, topped with lots of shaved hard cheese and a sunny-side up. The melting cheese and the runny egg yolk make a wonderful sauce for the pasta.

Now with the similar ingredients I changed the presentation a little bit. Turned the cooked sombreroni pasta (you can used sheet pasta) upside down, filled it with cheese, asparagus and diced boiled egg, topped it with fried quail egg to finish. I am sure you can come up with many more variations.

Recipe of pasta with asparagus and quail egg

(for 2 servings as the first course)

  • about 6 sombreroni pasta
  • 4 + 6 quail eggs
  • 100 g asparagus, diced
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
  • fine sea salt
  • spoonful of grate parmigiano-reggiano
  • cayenne pepper powder
  • red peppercorns as garnish

How-to:

  1. First, boil 4 quail eggs for about 5 minutes (or less). After they cool off, diced up. Set them aside.
  2. Cook the sombreroni until they are done. In this case, you can add a bit of oil (besides of salt) in the boiling water to avoid they stick together during cooking. Drain.
  3. In a skillet, pre-heat some olive oil, add garlic, asparagus and a pinch of salt, saute for about a minute or two. Put them in a big bowl, combine with the diced-up egg and cheese.
  4. Pan-fry, with oil and salt, 6 more quail egg until they are almost done.
  5. Fill the sombreroni with asparagus filling, topped with a fried egg, sprinkle a tiny bit of cayenne, garnish with red peppercorns.

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21 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Not only is it delicious, but it is also truely beautiful and refined!

Cheers and have a nice weekend,

Rosa

indosungod said...

Beautiful! the quail eggs look so darn cute.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Oh, here's that splendid colored pasta again. This is such an elegant presentation, Gattina. It belongs in a magazine. Truly.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Stunning! I'm not sure I could ever bear to eat it, but I would want to keep it forever!

Anonymous said...

Good for your husband's persistence. ;-)

You have a delicious-looking meal. I've never had quail egg before.

Paz

Anh said...

Very nice presentation, Gattina. I love the artistic feel to it.

Peabody said...

Simply a work of art Gattina.

Lore said...

Where do you find this colourful pasta Gattina? I remember seing it in one of your older posts. It has such a gret visual effect!

Gattina Cheung said...

Rosesm, thank you for always dropping by, and giving me encouragement :D

indosungod, yes, I love how the quail eggs look... and they are darn delish!

Susan, oh darling! Thank you!

Lydia, really thanks for the compliment!

paz, thank you! Hope I am not bias... as I started eating quail eggs since I was a little kid... I don't see much difference (taste wise) between chicken and quail egg.

Anh, thank you! Or thanks to the artistic work by the sombreroni manufacturer :D

Peabody !Hola! how have you been? hope everything superb in your side!

Lore, although I bought this pasta (made in Italy) in Barcelona, it (or similar products) starts getting more and more popular. Maybe try to look into some speciality store? Have fun in cooking!

Food For Tots said...

What a creative layout! I luv the curved asparagus and that 2 little "eyes". Great shots!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

That's a wonderful story on your husband! We should all remember persistence really does win the most! The only time I've had quail eggs was midway across the Atlantic on our sailing trip (we bought them on Santa Cruz de Tenerife). Your dish makes me see why visually they would really change a dish.
You are so right about the yolk being such great sauce!
This is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

These photos are beyond gorgeous. I love the combination of flavors and colors!

Anonymous said...

so delicate! you make food looks pretty Gattina!

esahkek said...

It's just too pretty to eat...*sigh*

tigerfish said...

OMG! You have the most refined and delicate fingers.....look at the presentation....AWESOME!

Penang Tua Pui said...

what shud i say now... it is midnight at my town now.....

and it happened to let me find this great food site... and make me feel sooooo hungry and there is nothing I can feed my stomach now...

can some one help?!!!!...

btw.. you got a great site and your photo is talking to me.. I can't wait to give them a bite...

LittleHands said...

I really love this presentation very much! :-). I'm sure my dd will slurp everything up if I present the food to her in this way hehe. Thks for the inspiration, Gattina! :-)

Anonymous said...

I've been checking out your blog for some time now and am continually amazed at the great stuff you do! The presentation of this dish, as many others commented, is beautiful! I'll definitely have to search out this pasta and try it.

Anonymous said...

all i can say is "wow" - beautiful presentation.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful presentation.

Anonymous said...

very cute