Egg and potato briks with slata tounsia
Two crisp briks per person, filled with potato, onion, parsley and capers and an egg with a runny yolk, served with a slata tounsia of tomato, cucumber, red onion and mint.
Ingredients for two
| 68 g | Brik pastry sheets (malsouka) 4 thin round malsouka pastry sheets, 24–26 cm across, about 17 g each, certified pareve |
| 220 g | Eggs 4 medium eggs, 1 per brik |
| 230 g | Potatoes 1 large potato (200 g peeled) |
| 40 g | Yellow onions 1 small onion, very finely chopped, for the filling |
| 20 g | Flat-leaf parsley A generous handful of leaves: brik calls for plenty |
| 10 g | Capers 1 tbsp, rinsed and drained |
| 15 g | Harissa 2 level tsp for the filling, 1 tsp on the side for serving |
| 4 g | Fine salt 2 g for the filling, 1 g for the salad, a pinch on each egg; plus 1 tsp for the cooking water, discarded with it and not counted |
| 1 g | Ground black pepper A pinch in the filling, a pinch on each egg |
| 250 g | Sunflower oil, for frying or as a neutral oil About 270 ml: a 6–8 mm layer for frying in a 24 cm sauté pan; once filtered, it can be used twice more |
| 25 g | Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp for softening the onion, 1 1/2 tbsp for the salad |
| 180 g | Tomatoes, vine or round 1 large, firm tomato |
| 150 g | Cucumbers 1 large or 1 1/2 Israeli cucumbers |
| 40 g | Red onions 1 small onion, very finely sliced, for the salad |
| 4 g | Fresh mint About 10 leaves, finely chopped; or use the remaining parsley |
| 120 g | Lemon 1 lemon: juice of one half (25 g) for the salad, the other half cut into wedges |
| 700 g | Water For boiling the potatoes; drained off |
Method
- Peel the potato and cut into 1 cm cubes. Bring 700 g water and 1 tsp salt to the boil in a small saucepan, add the potato and cook at a gentle boil for 8–10 minutes, until easily crushed with a fork. Meanwhile, chop the yellow onion very finely and soften over a low heat for 3 minutes in 1 tbsp olive oil, in the sauté pan that will be used for frying: it should turn translucent without colouring. Drain the potato, return to the saucepan over a low heat for 30 seconds to dry, then roughly mash with a fork.
- Mix the softened onion, chopped parsley, chopped capers, 2 tsp harissa, 2 g salt and a pinch of pepper into the potatoes. Spread the filling on a plate and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the slata tounsia: cut the tomato and cucumber into 1 cm dice, slice the red onion very finely and chop the mint. Separately, mix the juice of half a lemon with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and 1 g salt; keep the salad and dressing separate until serving.
- Wipe out the sauté pan, add the sunflower oil (6–8 mm deep) and heat over a medium-high heat to 175–180°C: a small piece of pastry should sizzle immediately and turn pale golden in 10 seconds. Keep the pastry sheets in their wrapper. Crack an egg into the ramekin. Take out ONE sheet, lay it on a plate and arrange a quarter of the filling in a small ring on one half, 3 cm from the edge. Pour the egg into the centre of the ring, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, and immediately fold the pastry into a half-moon.
- Slide the brik into the oil with the folded edge towards you and immediately spoon hot oil over the top for 20 seconds: the pastry blisters and the fold seals. Fry for 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds, turn once with the slotted spoon, then fry for another 1 minute to 1 minute 15 seconds. The pastry should be light golden and blistered, the white set to the touch around the edges and the yolk still runny: that is the character of a brik. Drain on the rack.
- Assemble the next brik while the previous one fries (egg into the ramekin, pastry, filling, egg, salt, pepper, fold), and cook the other three in the same way, one at a time: about 12 minutes for all four. Do not stack the briks on the rack or their steam will soften the pastry. Toss the salad with its dressing at the last moment.
- Serve immediately, 2 briks per person, with the slata tounsia, wedges of the remaining half-lemon and a little harissa on the side for anyone who wants it. Eat leaning over the plate: squeeze on lemon just before taking a bite, as the yolk will run.
On your plate
Recipe
1656 kcal · protein 22 g · carbs 48 g · fat 150 g
Quantities per person
- 34 g Brik pastry sheets (malsouka)
- 110 g Eggs
- 115 g Potatoes
- 20 g Yellow onions
- 10 g Flat-leaf parsley
- 5 g Capers
- 7.5 g Harissa
- 2 g Fine salt
- 0.5 g Ground black pepper
- 125 g Sunflower oil, for frying or as a neutral oil
- 12.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 90 g Tomatoes, vine or round
- 75 g Cucumbers
- 20 g Red onions
- 2 g Fresh mint
- 60 g Lemon
- 350 g Water
Cooking tips
The filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated; take it out while you prepare the salad. Assemble each brik only when ready to fry, otherwise the egg will soak the pastry. For a set yolk, allow another 45 seconds on each side. Let the frying oil cool, filter and store in a bottle: it can be used twice more. The nutrition calculation counts all 250 g oil poured into the pan as consumed; in practice, each brik absorbs about 12 g, giving roughly 750 kcal per person including the salad (rather than the displayed 1,656). No lighter version is offered, as the crispness depends on this frying method. To save time in the evening, cook the onion in a separate small frying pan while the potato cubes boil.
Tunisian egg brik in malsouka pastry, with the Tunis-style potato, onion, caper and parsley filling; slata tounsia makes it a complete dinner.