Hard-Boiled Eggs with Heidi Swanson's Homemade Dukkah (and Some Avocado Toast with Dukkah Too!)

What ingredients inspire you or get you excited about cooking? For me it's often spices and spice blends, both the exotic and the more familiar as they add so much to a dish. I have had an obsession with dukkah (the Egyptian blend of nuts, seeds and spices) for a while now--sprinkling it on the top of hummus or other dips, adding it to salads, dipping bread in olive oil and then the dukkah, and using it as a crust for fish. Even one of my favorite brunch places tops their avocado toast with their dukkah blend which makes it crave-worthy. I had finally used up the last of my Trader Joe's dukkah tins earlier this year and I kept meaning to make my own blend, so when I saw Heidi Swanson's Hard Cooked Eggs with Dukkah recipe from Super Natural Every Day, I knew I wanted to make it.

Eggs are a definite source of protein for me since I gave up meat and poultry a few years ago and I am always  topping dishes with them and usually have a stash of hard-boiled eggs ready to grab and go for snack or breakfast. Topping egg slices with dukkah and adding a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of flaky salt seemed like a brilliant idea. 

Swanson's dukkah recipe includes some of my favorite spice seeds--cumin, coriander and fennel. I took the lazy girl approach to my dukkah, meaning that I didn't toast each spice separately. I toasted the hazelnuts first, then the black peppercorns, and then put the sesame, cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds together in the pan and toasted them together. I also used the dry container of my Vita Mix blender to pulse everything rather than using a mortar and pestle to pound and crush. Maybe not as refined, but it's been a busy week, I wanted minimum effort, and it still tastes great! 

Hard Cooked Eggs with Dukkah
Slightly Adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
(Makes 12 Eggs: 3-4 Servings)

6 large eggs, hard-boiled, peeled (try my favorite egg boiling tips for easy shell removal)
1/3 cup dukkah
extra-virgin olive oil to drizzle
flaky sea salt to finish 

Cut eggs in half and arrange on a serving plate, cut side up. Sprinkle eggs generously with the dukkah. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and garnish with a pinch of flaky sea salt--adding more salt if needed/desired one you have tasted them.

Dukkah
Slightly Adapted from Super Natural Everyday by Heidi Swanson
(Makes about 2/3 Cup) 

1/4 cup hazelnuts
2 Tbsp coriander seeds
2 Tbsp white sesame seeds
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
scant 1 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp dried mint leaves
1/2 tsp fine sea salt + more if needed
 
Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat, add  hazelnuts, toast until slightly browned and fragrant, without burning them. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and cool completely. Repeat the steps with each of the seeds and the peppercorns, allowing them to cool completely. (Note: I did take the time to remove the bulk of the hazelnut skins, rubbing them off with a towel after toasting.)

Using a mortar and pestle, pound the peppercorns until crushed. Add the hazelnuts and seeds with the dried mint and salt and crush into a coarse consistency. (Or, you can pulse them in a food processor or blender to a coarse consistency, but don't over-process to a paste.) Taste and add additional salt if desired. 
 
Heidi's Note: You can keep the dukkah in an airtight container in a cool place for up to 1 month. 

Notes/Results: Between the toasting hazelnuts and the spices, my kitchen was smelling deliciously exotic by the time I made my eggs. These were so good. The texture and flavor of the dukkah adds so much to the creamy eggs. This is a great little snack or appetizer--if you enjoy hard-boiled eggs and spices, you will like this recipe. Heidi's dukkah blend has good flavor, but it is pretty black pepper-forward, which I love--but if you aren't a fan, use less. Dukkah ingredients vary quite a bit so you can customize it with different quantities or kinds of nuts and seeds. A really tasty snack or appetizer. I paired mine with some salad for an early light dinner. I will definitely make this again.

The recipe makes extra so I have been enjoying it on avocado toast. Just toasted (light rye) bread, fresh ripe avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon or lime and a generous sprinkle of dukkah. So good!  I also think this dukkah would be good sprinkled on top of an open face egg salad sandwich.

Linking this post up to I Heart Cooking Clubs Ingredients That Inspire theme. You can see what ingredients inspired everyone by checking out the picture links on the post. 

 
I'm also linking it up to the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

Happy Aloha Friday!