Pumpkin seed scrambled eggs with speck soldiers

A very rustic breakfast this is - or indeed a quick lunch or dinner, if you can get over the idea that eggs are for the morning. Pumpkin seeds, and even more so the oil produced from them, feature prominently in the Austrian cuisine - having experienced a bit of renaissance in the last 15 years and become fashionable with a younger, more urban crowd, presumably not least because of its health benefits. Nowadays, Austrian pumpkin seed oil has even found its way into the supermarket shelves around here, although, like with good olive oils and indeed any other foodstuff I can think of, the mass-produced version is nowhere near as good as what I try to buy directly at the source, from a pumpkin farmer in Styria, in the South of Austria.
I am not sure where the name comes from actually - I certainly didn't invent it, pacifist that I am, but "egg and soldiers" (soft boiled egg with toast cut into finger-thin strips) are a common dish here in the UK. Searching for an explanation I found that the egg is "beheaded", hence the military connotation. Maybe I should just call them speck fingers or speck toasts - the visualisation of it all makes me sick.
Anyway, where I come from, people always make sure to change clothes before they eat anything containing pumpkin seed oil to avoid spoiling any good clothes - its colour is more remeniscent of motor oil than anything else and the stains are resistant to Persil, Ariel, Daz, bleach - you name it. Only way to get them out is to hang them in the sunshine for as long as possible, the UV will bleach the stains naturally. Now THAT's a piece of advice you only get when you buy from a farmer... at my local Sainsbury's you're lucky of they know the aisle number, let alone any secret tips for stain removal!

Pumpkin seed scrambled eggs with speck "soldiers"
(serves 4 generously)

40 g pumpkin seeds (roughly chopped)
8 eggs
80 ml whipping (or single) cream
30 g butter
salt, pepper

pumpkin seed oil to serve

For the "soldiers":
4 slices rye bread
16 slices prosciutto di speck (super thinly sliced)

For the soldiers, toast the rye bread, then cut into 3 cm strips. Wrap tightly in the speck.
Toast (dry roast) the pumpkin seeds in a skillet until starting to brown. Remove and set aside. Combine the egges with the cream in a bowl, beating the mixture with a fork. Season with salt & pepper.
Heat the butter in a heavy non-stick pan. Add the eggs and cook over a medium heat until starting to set. Turn off, the heat, fold in the pumpkin seeds and keep stirring continuously with a whisk, making sure the eggs set properly, but the mixture doesn't become too dry.
Serve immediately, sprinkled generously with pumpkin seed oil, the speck soldiers to the side.

Comments

[Jeanne]

Hi Jo - this sounds absolutely delicious. And I love the idea of the speck soldiers! I'm busy doing a roundup for the End of Month Egg on Toast Extravaganza #3 over at Cooksister - and this seriously deserves a mention. Would you mind if I added it to my list of contributions, even though it wasn't cooked specifically for this purpose?

[cucina testa rossa]

I worked at Danube in NYC, a David Bouley/Mario Lohninger Austrian restaurant, and pumpkin seed oil was used extensively. It was the first time I'd seen it and it has an amazing deep earthy flavor, unctuous texture and a beautiful dark green color. It is wonderful in vinaigrettes for salads or in sauces. and congrats on the blog-pic award!

[cali]

Your post doesn't say what you did with the oumpkin seeds AFTER you toast and set aside. Please let us know. I mean, do you sprinkle over scrambled eggs, mix into scrambled eggs?

It looks awesome, cant wait to try!