Ovos Verdes (Portuguese Green Deviled Eggs)

Every Portuguese festa I remember from childhood in Tras-os-Montes had a folding table somewhere in the shade, and on that table, without fail, sat a plate of ovos verdes. Not the raw deviled eggs Americans know, cool and mayo-slicked. Ours are fried, golden, a little crackly at the edges, and the “green” in the name comes from the parsley worked into the yolk filling, not the topping.

My mother made them for baptisms, for the village saint’s day, for any excuse involving a folding table and too many neighbors. The trick she taught me is not to overfill the whites, because the filling puffs slightly as it fries, and a too-generous hand means the whole thing splits open in the oil and you lose your egg to the pan. I learned this the hard way, more than once, with her standing over my shoulder saying nothing, which somehow said everything.

These travel beautifully to a potluck, sit happily at room temperature for an hour, and disappear faster than anything else on the table. If you’re building a Portuguese appetizer spread, I’d put them next to Rissois de camarao (recipe on the site) and Pasteis de Bacalhau (recipe on the site), pour something cold, and let people graze.

Ovos Verdes Recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes · Cook time: 10 minutes · Total: 30 minutes · Servings: 8 (16 halves) · Calories: ~140 per serving

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon finely grated onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 large eggs, beaten (for dredging)
• 1 cup fine breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil, for shallow frying

Instructions

1. Place the 8 eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water by an inch, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, remove from heat, and let sit 10 minutes.
2. Drain and cool the eggs under cold running water, then peel. Halve each egg lengthwise and scoop the yolks into a bowl, keeping the whites intact.
3. Mash the yolks well with the parsley, grated onion, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and a good grind of pepper until you have a smooth, spreadable paste.
4. Mound the yolk mixture back into each egg white half, pressing gently to fill and mounding slightly above the rim.
5. Set up three shallow dishes: flour in one, the 2 beaten eggs in the second, breadcrumbs in the third. Dredge each stuffed egg half in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, filling-side first so the crumb seals the top.
6. Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the eggs in batches, filling-side down first, 1 to 2 minutes per side, until deep golden.
7. Drain on paper towels and serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

• Don’t overfill the whites. The filling puffs slightly as it fries, and an overstuffed egg is more likely to split open in the oil.
• You can bread the eggs up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerate them on a tray, then fry just before your guests arrive.
• If you’d rather not fry, these are also good baked at 400F for about 10 minutes, though you lose some of the crackle.
• For US kitchens, any plain fine dried breadcrumb works; panko is too coarse here and won’t seal properly.