Ova farcta
Eggs stuffed with cheese, raisins, & herbs - contributed by Gaylin J. Walli

Original recipes from De honesta voluptate:

Make fresh eggs hard by cooking for a long time. Then, when the shells are removed, cut the eggs through the middle so that the whole white is not damaged. When the yolks are removed, pound part with raisins and good cheese, some fresh, some aged. Reserve part to color the mixture, and also add a little finely cut parsley, marjoram, and mint. Some put in two or more egg whites with spices. When the whites of the eggs have been stuffed with this mixture and closed, fry them over a slow fire in oil. When they have been fried, add a sauce made from the rest of the egg yolks pounded with raisins and moistened with verijuice and must. Put in ginger cloves, and cinnamon and heat them a little while with the eggs themselves. This has more harm than good in it. (Milham, 405)

...but the yolks, especially fresh ones, from the hen, partridge, and pheasant, warm the heart and nourish the body when they are eaten lightly cooked, for eggs ought to be sucked. They are converted into pure blood, which warms the heart. For this reason, those who are troubled by an empty stomach should use this food often in the first course because it is very easily turned into other humors when the stomach is purged beforehand. (Milham, 161, 163)


Modern recipe: Stuffed Eggs

For 160

  • 160 whole hard boiled eggs 
  • 20 whole egg whites, raw (optional)
  • 7/8 cup fresh marjoram, minced
  • 7/8 cup fresh mint leaves, minced
  • 7/8 cup fresh parsley, minced
  • 7/8 cup fresh chives, minced
  • 3 1/3 tablespoons salt
  • 1 2/3 tablespoons freshly ground pepper 
  • 1 2/3 tablespoons raisins, minced
  • 2 1/2 cups grated cheese - use a fresh cheese, like Farmer's, not a hard cheese like Parmesan
  • 3/8 cup vinegar
  • additional grated cheese, for sprinkling
For 8 
  • 8 whole hard boiled eggs 
  • 1 whole egg whites, raw (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh marjoram, minced 
  • 2 teaspoons fresh mint leaves, minced 
  • 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
  • 2 teaspoons fresh chives, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 
  • 1 1/3 teaspoons raisins, minced
  • 2 tablespoons grated cheese - use a fresh cheese, like Farmer's, not a hard cheese like Parmesan
  • 1 teaspoon vinegar
  • additional grated cheese, for sprinkling
Hard boil the eggs and cool completely. Peel carefully, trying to avoid damaging the whites. Slice each egg in half lengthwise and carefully remove the yolk. Set aside the whites.

Take the yolks and place them in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and combine well. The final result should be of creamy consistency. If the mixture appears too dry to be easily placed in the reserved egg halves without sticking, add more vinegar in very small amounts until the desired consistency is reached.

Spoon the yolk mixture into the egg white halves (a pastry bag and wide-opening tip can help with this). You will not use all of the yolk filling! Once the eggs are assembled, take the rest of the filling and thin it with a little vinegar and possibly some of the egg whites to make a sauce. Set this sauce aside.

Reassemble the eggs so they appear whole, then fry them gently in oil and top with the sauce. Alternatively, arrange the reassembled eggs in a greased baking dish and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over them and bake until golden brown and heated through, approximately 15 minutes.

Per serving nutritional information:

71 Calories; 4g Fat (55% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 181mg Cholesterol; 194mg Sodium

Notes on the recipe:

This recipe is a relatively straightforward. After the hardboiled eggs are stuffed with the requisite ingredients, Platina calls for the eggs to be reassembled and subsequently fried in oil over low heat. The fried eggs are then served with a sauce made from reserved egg yolks, cinnamon, verijuice, and must.

In order for the eggs to be reassembled properly, less than half the yolks would need to be used or the filling would not all fit back into the hardboiled white halves. Modern recipes for stuffed eggs typically fill both white halves with a big dollop of yolk-based filling and avoid the reassembly altogether. If further cooking is done in modern recipes, the eggs are not usually fried, but baked and topped with a béchamel (white sauce) or similar simple sauce.

Older eggs are much easier to peel than fresh eggs. Eggs can be hard-boiled in advance. Using cake frosting bags and tips, the eggs can be filled just prior to being served, making transport much easier. Consider skipping the final baking or frying step completely and take these eggs as a lovely alternative to stuffed-deviled eggs at your next party.

Additional notes on this recipe may be found at: The Coronation Feast of Dag IV & Elayna II

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Milham, Mary Ella. Platina's On Right Pleasure and Good Health. University of North Carolina at Asheville: Pegasus Press, 1999. ISBN: 0866982086.

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Gaylin Walli is a technical writer and editor for a multinational software company. She spends the vast majority of her personal time researching things because her friends (and people throughout the known world) torture her with comments like "Do you know anything about..."

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