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| Your guests will love these eggs stuffed with chopped shrimp. |
If you’re having a backyard party or you’re off to a community potluck, stuffed eggs are the answer. In any form, they are real crowd-pleasers. I like them, too, as a simple lunch dish, served with chilled gazpacho in a glass.
The Spanish rendition of huevos rellenos (stuffed eggs), once a typical selection in tapas bars, is usually made with canned tuna mashed with the yolks, the tops napped with mayonnaise—often homemade with extra virgin olive oil. This version, with shrimp instead of tuna, is rather more elegant.
Vary the recipe to suit yourself or your guests’ tastes. Chives instead of parsley. Chopped pickles in place of capers. Use lobster instead of shrimp. Add Dijon mustard and/or Tabasco and call the eggs "devilled." I mashed a fillet of salty anchovy with the yolks to give the mixture extra oomph.
Tips: You can easily double or quadruple this recipe for a crowd. But be sure to leave yourself enough time to peel two or three dozen eggs! Cut a sliver off the bottom of each half-egg white so they sit flat on the serving plate. Oh yes, don’t leave that reserved half-yolk on the kitchen cabinet—the ants will get it. It’s officially summer when the ants return to my kitchen.
Eggs Stuffed with Shrimp
Huevos Rellenos con Gambas
The ingredients for the stuffing can be chopped and mashed with the yolks or, if you prefer, put everything in a mini-processor and chop them together.
Use any size shrimp (gamba or langostino). Chop them fairly small for the stuffing. Tiny whole shrimp can be used to decorate the tops of the eggs.
Serves 8 (½ egg per person).
4 (large) eggs
3 ounces peeled shrimp (to make ½ cup chopped)
1 anchovy fillet, drained (optional)
1 teaspoon minced or grated onion
1 teaspoon drained capers or olives + more for garnish
1 teaspoon chopped red pimiento + more for garnish
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Salad greens to serve
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Carefully lower the eggs into the pan and cook them 10 to 12 minutes. Drain and cover the eggs with cold water. Allow them to cool.
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| Mash yolks with other ingredients. |
Peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the yolks. Reserve ½ of 1 yolk and place the rest in a bowl. Mash them with a fork. Cut a sliver off the bottom of the whites so they don’t wobble and place on a serving plate or in a covered plastic container and refrigerate.
Chop together the shrimp, anchovy, onion, capers, and pimiento. Add this mixture to the yolks and mash them together. Add the parsley, lemon juice, oil and mayonnaise. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon the yolk-shrimp mixture into the 8 egg whites. Cover and chill.
To serve, garnish the tops of the stuffed eggs with capers, red pimiento, and small shrimp, as desired. Place them on a serving plate with salad greens. Grate the reserved half-egg yolk over the tops of the eggs.
More versions of stuffed eggs:
A tray of stuffed eggs ready to take to a friend's potluck. These are classic eggs stuffed with tuna and chopped olives.
This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking.
Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. (Hippocrene Books)
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