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Crudites with anchovy dip

From Thomasina Miers, co-owner of Mexican street food chain Wahaca (www.wahaca.co.uk). Photograph: Franck Allais and Ed Johns for the Guardian
This is a delicious sauce to dunk with sticks of sweet vegetables and halved eggs.
Serves 4

16 quails' eggs
16 radishes
16 cherry tomatoes
For the dressing
8 anchovy fillets
1 garlic clove
A good pinch of sugar
2 tsp red wine vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
120ml extra virgin olive oil
A few twists of black pepper

1. Simmer the quails' eggs in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove them from the heat and immerse in a bowl of iced water.

2. Scrub the radishes clean and cut their stems off.

3. To make the dressing, put the anchovies and garlic in a food processor and blitz to a smooth paste with the sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and some freshly ground black pepper. Add the olive oil, slowly at first, in a thin steady stream, to make a smooth emulsion. If it is very thick, add a couple of tablespoons of water to thin it down.

4. If you are tucking in straight away, peel the eggs and cut them in half. Slice the radishes and cherry tomatoes in half too. Arrange them in little piles around a bowl of the anchovy dip. You could also pack the unpeeled, cooled eggs, tomatoes and radishes in sealed boxes and take them to work with the sauce. Alternatively, serve this with crostini as an easy, unusual starter. To make crostini, brush thin pieces of baguette with olive oil and bake until crisp. Spread the dip on top and serve with wedges of red pepper, celery, radish, and tomatoes.


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