I stumbled across this dish on returning from my morel hunting in Turkey. One of our wonderful hosts, Ali, gave us all a kilo of home-grown paprika as we left. It is extraordinarily good – both sweet and hot at the same time (it is available in Turkish delis as ‘kirmizi biber’), but at any rate it works perfectly in this seasonal dish which uses a range of spring foods and tastes . . .
600g Rocket (or nettle tops, spinach, wild garlic, watercress . . . or a mixture according to taste)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 eggs
150g Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic (crushed)
50g butter
½ tsp kirmizi biber (crushed, oiled and roasted chillis)
6 sage leaves
• Preheat the oven to 150C/gas mark 3. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the greens until wilted.
• Line a heatproof dish with the greens and make four depressions. Break an egg into each and bake for 10 minutes until eggs are set.
• Meanwhile, whisk the garlic into the yoghurt and set aside. Then melt the butter, fry the kirmizi biber until the butter starts to foam. Add the shredded sage leaves and cook for a few more seconds.
• When the eggs are cooked, spoon first the yoghurt, then the butter/chilli/sage over the top and serve immediately.
