Читать книгу Home Cooking - Rachel Allen - Страница 88

A fabulously simple salad. The dressing is based on an old-fashioned recipe and is wonderful served with fresh ingredients plucked straight from the garden.

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 eggs

4 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

2 tsp soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp lime or lemon juice

1 small cucumber, finely sliced

8 small plum tomatoes, halved

Small bunch of spring onions, trimmed and sliced

15g (½oz) bunch of mint, leaves only

75g (3oz) watercress leaves, any thick stalks removed

1 Bring a saucepan of salted water to a rolling boil and carefully add the eggs, cooking them for 6–7 minutes or until semi-hard boiled. Drain and immediately cool under cold running water to stop them cooking. Peel off the shells and cut the eggs in half.

2 In the meantime, start making the dressing. Pour the olive oil into a small frying pan on a medium heat, add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds until golden brown. Remove from the heat and leave the oil to cool completely.

3 Place the sugar and lime or lemon juice in a large bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves. Scoop out two halves of egg yolk from the whites and add to the mixture, mashing them down with the back of a spoon. Roughly chop the whites and reserve for serving. Add the cooled oil and garlic, season with salt and pepper and vigorously whisk everything together to form a smooth, thick dressing. Check the seasoning, adding more salt and pepper if necessary.

4 Put the cucumber, tomatoes and spring onions into a large bowl and pour over the dressing. Add the mint and watercress and toss all the ingredients together.

5 Pile the salad onto plates, arrange two egg halves on top of each, scatter over the reserved chopped egg whites and serve.