Potato Egg Nests

Now the heatwaves of summer have passed we were able to do some serious tidying in our garden, it really had gotten out of hand. Our hedges were way overgrown and whilst cleaning up the branches we found a few abandoned birds nests. They gave me the most wonderful idea for a recipe, grated potato as the nest (perfectly representing the twigs) and a sort of quiche like filling inside, topped off with a cute quail egg, to represent the wonderful fledglings we saw in our garden this year.

I don't know about you, but all this talk is making me hungry. Let's get cooking!

This quantity made 18 nests.

I love this recipe because it's so quick to prepare and you don't need a lot of supplies. Best of all you can swap the filling to suit whatever you have in your fridge and cupboards:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg potatoes
• 4 slices of ham
• 5 chicken eggs
• 18 quail eggs
• 75-100g grated cheese
• 1 large red pepper
• 8 mushrooms
• 250 ml milk
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• Oil for sauteing
• Salt and pepper to season

UTENSILS

• Grater (manual or electric)
• Bowls (you'll need several of various sizes)
• Tea-towel / cloth
• Muffin trays
• Small glass (I used a small Ikea glass, holds about 200 ml)
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Frying pan and spatula/ spoon
• Measuring jug
• Fork or whisk
• Plate
• Serving dishes

1. First up you need to grate/shred the potatoes. I have an attachment for my stand alone mixer that easily grates anything, so this made light work of those potatoes. You can of course use a hand grater.
2. Transfer to a tea towel / cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. You want the potatoes to be dry otherwise you won't get that crispy nest texture when they bake.
3. Add an egg white to the potato mix. Season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly.
4. Grease your muffin tin and add a portion of potatoes to each cavity. Use a glass to create the indentation, i.e. the nest to hold the filling.
5. Bake in the oven 200°C for 15-20 mins. You want the nests to be cooked through, but not too brown.

1. Chop the vegetables into small cubes. I used a red pepper and mushrooms.
2. Sauté in a little oil until soft, but not browned.
3. Shred the ham slices and add to the vegetables.
4. Rip the basil and add to the mixture.
5. Add a spoonful to each nest. You DO NOT want to pack it down as you have the egg mix to add in. Keep it loose.

1. Lightly mix 4 chicken eggs with 250 ml milk (works with dairy free milk too).
2. Add 75g grated cheese.
3. Pour the egg and cheese mix into each muffin cavity, just enough to cover the vegetables.
4. Top off each nest with a quail egg.
5. Bake in the oven at 200°C for 8-10 minutes until the egg is set.

Serve on a bed of fresh salad leaves and enjoy as a lunchtime meal.

Experiment with other fillings, the beauty about this recipe is that it is so versatile. Eggs and potato really do lend themselves so to partner with many other flavours.