Something is enchanting about eggs in a bird’s nest. This recipe for soft boiled quail eggs on a mushroom pancetta pasta does reignite that enchantment. So delicious in their own right, the quail eggs are also the perfect compliment for this mushroom and pancetta pasta dish.
Perfecting the recipe for soft-boiling quail eggs was no easy task. Given their size, the time from raw to soft boiled to hard-boiled is disturbingly short. With a few techniques and a bit of practice (trial and error), you can get the perfect balance between reasonably firm whites and runny yolks.
And why bother? Quail eggs are very good for you…
Quail eggs work well wherever a chicken egg would. Or, when a chicken egg would be a bit much, like with this citrus cured salmon.
Update: Another possibility for cooking soft boiled quail eggs. Since first cooking this mushroom pancetta pasta and quail eggs, I have purchased a sous vide device (Anova). It turns out the sous vide method is a great way to cook quail eggs. While it is easier to get consistent results, as with this soba recipe, the quail egg whites are not as firm as can be achieved with the method described in the recipe below.
Pasta “birds nest” with soft boiled quail eggs
Ingredients
- 200 g red linguine pasta
- 1 fennel bulb large
- 100 g enoki mushrooms
- 150 g shimeji mushrooms
- 150 g fresh shiitake mushrooms
- 100 g pancetta
- 20 g butter
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan
- 1/2 Tbsp canola or grape seed oil
- 1/4 cup parsley finely chopped
- 20 quail eggs fresh
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Pasta ingredients prep
- Finely dice the fennel bulb.
- Saute over a high heat in a little canola oil until starting to char, but not yet soft. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium then add the butter.
- Cut the root base from the shimeji mushrooms.
- Saute over a medium heat until starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cut the root base from the enoki mushrooms.
- Saute over a medium heat until starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Remove the stalk from the shiitake mushrooms and dice finely.
- Saute over a medium heat until starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cut the pancetta into long strips.
- Sauté the pancetta strips. They should resemble twigs after they are sautéd and become crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Quail eggs
- Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. The saucepan should be big enough so that the quail eggs are not overcrowded and the water remains at a boil when the quail eggs are added.
- Lower the quail eggs into the boiling water with a large slotted spoon.
- Boil for 1 minute 45 seconds exactly. At least, that worked for me, with my pot, amount of water, and heat source. It pays to do some trials before cooking them in bulk. Hard boiled quails eggs would not work.
- Remove the quail eggs with the large slotted spoon and transfer to an ice bath.
- Peel carefully.
Pasta
- Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the Tbsp of olive oil and the tsp of salt.
- Plunge the pasta into the boiling water and cook until al dente, around 6-8 minutes.
Plating
- In a large frypan or wok over a medium heat, add a Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Then add the charred fennel, mushrooms, and pancetta. Toss until heated through.
- Use tongs to transfer in the pasta. Add a ladle or two of the pasta cooking water.
- Stir until well heated through.
- Add the finely chopped parsley and parmesan and toss.
- Arrange on a plate so that it resembles a birds nest.
- Add some quail eggs.
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