Quail eggs on toast with chorizo

Serves 8

(Jason Lowe)

This is a tasty and interesting snack and a bit of a variation on huevos rancheros. The thought of pan frying quail eggs may seem a little daunting, but it's no more difficult than frying a normal egg.

About 100-120g cooking chorizo with the skins removed

1tbsp finely chopped parsley
16 slices of thin baguette, toasted
16 quail eggs (plus a few more in case of mistakes)
A little olive oil for frying

Chop the chorizo into small pieces, almost breaking it down like mince. Heat a frying pan and cook the chorizo on a medium heat, stirring and breaking it up with the back of the spoon as it's cooking and continue cooking for 4-5 minutes. If there are still some big lumps you can remove them and chop them a bit and return them to the pan. Put to one side and stir in the parsley.

To fry the eggs, carefully crack the eggs using the blade of a small knife, individually into egg cups or small containers. Heat a preferably non-stick frying pan on a low heat with some olive oil.

Tip the eggs into the pan, leaving space between them, and cook them for about a minute until they are just slightly under-cooked and will take a little re-heating.

Once cooked, transfer each one on to a slice of the toasted baguette with a fish slice and place on a baking tray and continue cooking the rest.

To serve, reheat in a low oven for a few minutes, reheat the chorizo and spoon a little on each egg.