Warm salad of steamed baby leeks & deconstructed eggs mimosa

It's Easter again and with the festivities comes that age-old problem of what to do with those hard-boiled eggs... or at least around here, it does! Easter traditions in Europe command that everyone be given (or, if they're kids, find somewhere hidden around the house) a hard-boiled, died egg. Since our equivalent of Santa Clause comes on Christmas Eve already, Easter is the one festivity in the year where the kids are up at the crack of dawn, turning the whole house upside down to find their Easter nests - with a fair amount of hard-boiled eggs. At breakfast, more eggs. At mass, a traditional nest of brioche with a hard-boiled egg in the centre. After church, off to visit the grandparents and extended family and at every house we would get more... eggs! (and chocolate, but that wasn't really that much of a problem for me). And not just that - they would also be cracked already, since there wasn't an egg to be had without an egg fight ensuing with some cousin or other ;-)
And for the following two weeks, all we would eat was... eggs! I had them coming out of my ears and I didn't really like them that much anyway! So, in case you are facing the same problem right now, here's an idea for using up those eggs (I don't know why I don't just throw them in the bin, to be honest, it's not like they're from Faberge or anything...) - eggs mimosa (or devilled eggs) are a common sight this time of the year, but in this case we're only using their essence: the eggs chopped finely with some capers, parsley and fresh anchovies (optional) and sprinkled over some steamed baby leeks (or indeed, asparagus, beans or whichever vegetable seems to be in season in your neck of the woods), finished off with a simple French dressing. The perfect dish to get your stomach back in gear after a weekend or over-indulgence...

Steamed baby leeks with deconstructed eggs mimosa
(serves 3)

12-15 baby leeks (depending on size and appetite)

For the vinaigrette:
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp white wine vinegar

For the eggs mimosa:
2 hard-boiled eggs (shelled)
1 tbsp capers
2 sardines (or 4 anchovies) in brine  (optional)
1 handful parsley

Steam the baby leeks for 10 minutes over salt water.
Shake the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a jam jar until smooth.
Put all the ingredients for the eggs mimosa in a small food processor, chope finely with a few pulses. Season to taste.

The leeks should be served lukewarm, with the eggs mimosa sprinkled on top and drizzled with some of the vinaigrette. Offer some bread on the side.

Comments

[Audrey]

Thank you, Johanna, for this recipe. To be quite honest, I didn´t get any eggs (as a gift) the last weekend ; except some chocolate ones. But I got some cooked (and coloured ones) from my parents, just because they went on vacation during the Easter holidays. Now I have a creative way to use them up.

[Christina]

Mmm, baby leeks and eggs - sounds delicious.

[Helen]

I love this, I posted a similar version a while back but mine went totally over the top. I even added bacon! I love your elegant version. Such a pretty photo too.

[Annemarie]

Ah, now I know what eggs mimosa are! Lucky for me I get a craving for hard boiled eggs around easter time, but this looks like a great set of ingredients that has me craving all of them.

[Africantapestry]

Your baby leeks look wonderful...with some wholewheat bread to mop up the juices...!
ronell

[myfrenchkitchen]

Sorry Johanna...I had the wrong URL...it is Ronell from Myfrenchkitchen

[Tartelette]

That reminds me of a dish of steamed leeks with vinaigrette that my mom used to make all the time. I love how you captured the greens in the picture!