Catholic Recipe: Eggs Aurore

A very special way to use up Easter eggs in a luncheon dish.

DIRECTIONS

Peel and cut the ten hard-boiled eggs in half lengthwise, remove the yolks, and set them aside. Shred the whites in fine strips and combine these with sauce a l'aurore made as follows:

Blend together in the top of a double boiler 2 cups bechamel sauce (see below) and 2 egg yolks. Cook over hot water until thickened, stirring constantly. Just before the sauce is required, stir in vinegar, cayenne, and tomato puree.

Garnish the edges of a heatproof platter with the bread triangles, fried in butter. Pour some of the egg-white mixture in the center and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Over this rub some of the egg yolks through a corse sieve. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are all used, finishing with the sieved yolks. Place the dish in a moderate oven (350 degrees F) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the egg yolks are slightly glazed. Serve immediately.

Bechamel Sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan, add onion, and cook until it is soft but not brown. Add flour, mix well and cook slowly until the flour just starts to turn golden. Add milk gradually, stirring vigorously with a wire whip. This very slow addition of the milk gives an elastic lightness without lumps. Add salt, peppercorns, parsley, and if desired, a pinch of nutmeg. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes or until 1/3 the liquid is cooked away and the sauce is the consistency of very heavy cream. Strain through a fine sieve.