DEVILLED EGGS, WITH DILL & CUCUMBER

I’m slightly obsessed with Rivals. And with Jilly Cooper in general, actually. So naturally, I’ve started wanting to make all the food from it. Vol-au-vents, pavlovas, champagne – all that very 80s, slightly excessive party food.

These devilled eggs felt like the obvious place to start.

I’ve kept the filling classic, with egg yolks, mayonnaise, crème fraîche and Dijon mustard, then added lots of finely chopped dill. The cucumber comes on top, cut into little ribbons and held in place with a cocktail stick. It’s fresh and crunchy against the creamy filling. It makes them feel a little lighter, too.

There is something very very 80s about a cocktail stick stuck into every devilled egg, and I’m fully embracing it. If you have some nice pretty ones, even better.

These are made for aperitivo time – something cold and fizzy in one hand (like this Classic Champagne Cocktail), devilled eggs in the other. Add a tiny bit of paprika and flaky salt at the end, and pretend you’ve been invited to a very good 1980s party in the Cotswolds.

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DEVILLED EGGS, WITH DILL & CUCUMBER

Devilled eggs with dill and cucumber, dressed up for an 80s-style aperitivo. Creamy, fresh and very good with a glass of something fizzy.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4 – 8 servings

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs at room temperature
• 1.5 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp crème fraîche
• ½ tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• few sprigs of dill (plus extra for serving), very finely chopped
• 1/2 cucumber
• pinch of paprika
• salt & freshly ground black pepper
• You'll also need 16 cocktail sticks!

Instructions

1. Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil. Gently lower the eggs into the water, clamp on the lid and cook for 9 minutes. Drain the eggs and run them under cold water, until they are cool enough to touch. Carefully peel away their skins and chop into halves.

2. Using your fingers, gently prise all the egg yolks away from their whites. Combine the yolks in blender jug with the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, mustard, olive oil and a good pinch of salt and black pepper. Use a stick blender to blitz everything together, until thick and creamy – you may need a little tiny dash of water to help it along here. Stir through the dill, then taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.

3. Arrange the egg whites on a serving platter. Fit your piping bag with a star nozzle, fill it with the yolk mixture, then pipe the hollow egg whites with a generous swirl of the yolk filling.

4. Use a speed peeler to peel 16 thin ribbons of the cucumber. Concertina each one up and pierce it through with a cocktail stick. Spike each egg with your cucumber cocktail stick, then sprinkle with a little pinch of paprika and flaky salt. Serve with an extra sprig of dill on top, if you like.

This is very nice served with my Classic Champagne Cocktail. Or, for more recipe inspiration, check out my Instagram.