Everyone knows I adore Jamie Oliver! It’s on his site that I came across this broccoli salad recipe and it looked perfect for a healthy festive meal, plus my whole family loves eggs. You can find the original here.
The thing is, is looked great on paper, but didn’t actually turn out that well. To me, the mustard dressing just didn’t go with the anchovies and he also added a LOT of anchovies. It’s probably all about your particular taste and hey, that’s what cooking is all about – playing around with the flavours that YOU enjoy. I would rather substitute the mustard dressing for a light aioli, maybe even more of a sweet, light mustard. Something that doesn’t compete with the anchovy.
That said, I still think the broccoli, egg and chili is delicious, the croutons add the crunch and it is very appealing to the eye. If you don’t like anchovy, bacon would be a great replacement. Either way, I would love to know what you think of this one!
Broccoli & Boiled Egg Salad
Ingredients
- 500 g tenderstem broccoli
- 4 large free-range eggs , (at room temperature)
- 2 tbsp Dijon or wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 pinch of caster sugar
- 2 large cloves of garlic
- 2-4 marinated anchovies
- 1 fresh red chilli
- CROUTONS
- 60 g leftover ciabatta
- olive oil
Instructions
- For the croutons, tear the ciabatta up into bite-sized pieces. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, tip in the ciabatta and toss well to coat in the oil.
- Cook gently for 5 to 10 minutes, or until crisp and golden; try to resist adding more oil – they will turn golden given a bit of time. Tip onto a plate, then wipe out the pan with kitchen paper and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, then add the broccoli and cook until just tender.
- Fill a bowl with cold water, then lift the broccoli from the pot and into the cold water to cool. Keep the pot of water on the hob.
- Gently lower the eggs into the pot of boiling water and simmer for 6 minutes, or until they are just soft in the middle. Drain and set aside.
- Tip the broccoli into a colander, then cool the eggs in a fresh bowl of cold water for a few minutes.
- Next, combine 1 tablespoon of oil with the mustard, vinegar and sugar, plus 1 tablespoon of cold water and a little seasoning to make the dressing. Peel, then halve the eggs.
- Peel and thinly slice the garlic, tear up the anchovies and trim and finely chop the chilli.
- Put 1 tablespoon of oil in the frying pan, place over medium heat and fry the garlic for 30 seconds. Toss in the drained broccoli and cook for 2 minutes over high heat, until starting to colour here and there.
- Spread the broccoli over a platter, then add the eggs, croutons and anchovies. Scatter with the chilli, drizzle over the dressing and serve.
