Pão-com-ovo, or egg sandwich, was one of my favorites when I was growing up: so simple and delicious. I think it had to do with the eggs coming from happy hens, freely roaming around my mother’s backyard, feeding not only on grains, but all the other stuff chickens like to eat. What do you think? I believe that how the chicken is treated makes a difference in the quality of the eggs produced.

sunny-side up quail eggs and cannellini bean spread on rustic toast

For this simplest of country fare, the egg was just fried sunny-side up, in a cast iron pan with some oil, salt and pepper, then lovingly placed on a big fat slice of rustic bread. These country eggs had unbelievable flavor and a pumpkin-orange colored yolk that was out of this world. It was fun getting messy after the first bite, with the yolk leaking all over the bread and my finger tips and arms and everything. Peasant food rocks! Here I am reminiscing about food and childhood again.

Alas we try not to eat a lot of eggs these days because of the cholesterol content*, but last week I couldn’t resist the little tray of organic quail eggs staring at me at the supermarket. So here’s a version of my childhood favorite, pão-com-ovo. I’ve added the Tuscan style bean spread to make the dish more substantial, for a full meal.

sunny-side up eggs are so cheery, sort of like sunflowers

sunny-side up quail eggs and cannellini bean spread on rustic toast

3 cups cooked cannellini beans with some of their juices
4 cloves garlic (3 minced and 1 for rubbing on bread slices)
Kosher salt
Black pepper
6 thick slices of ciabatta bread, cut diagonally
Olive oil
6 quail eggs
Good extra virgin olive oil for fishing

Heat up 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan, add minced garlic and let it sizzle for a minute. Add beans with some of the liquid, salt and pepper, then bring to a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside and keep warm.

Position rack of your oven close to the grill, and broil bread slices on both sides, about 2-3 minutes on each. Remove from oven, rub garlic clove on both sides.

Add a few drops of olive oil to a non-stick pan. Break a quail egg in and fry on medium temperature sunny side up. Remove from the pan and repeat with the rest.

Arrange bread slices on a platter, spread about a dollop of bean paste over each slice, top with a quail egg, drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over it all and voilá!

You can serve this as warm appetizer or main course with a side of leafy salad or tomatoes. This goes well with a hearty and bold red wine.

*As for the cholesterol, quail egg is not too bad if you can eat just one. Quail has only 76mg cholesterol, which is 25% of the recommended intake. Compare to chicken, at 213mg or 70%. Duck egg has 619mg or 206%; turkey, 737mg, or 246%; goose, a whopping 1227mg, or 409%. I looked for ostrich but couldn’t find the info on that grandest of edible egg.

Data from recipe tips.