Crispy-Fried Prosciutto Deviled Eggs

It's been a while! Where have I been? Did you think I had run out of deviled egg recipes?

Well, I've been traveling, I've been busy with work, I've even had some weather-related delays. But I'm back with MORE deviled eggs recipes. And I have a goal to try one new recipe each week.


Really, I spent a few weeks perfecting the most recent recipe. Not every recipe or idea that is sent to TheBestDeviledEggs@gmail.com is a complete recipe, just ready for me to make it, taste it, and review it. In fact, this recipe is an amalgam of about three or four different things. The impetus was just an innocent comment someone made to me when I was bitching that all the recent deviled egg recipes I had tried used paprika as a garnish - I wanted MORE than paprika. Someone said, "Hey, why not just crispy-fry some prosciutto, stick it in the filling and call it a day?"


So that's what I did. And it must have taken half a dozen attempts before I could even figure out how to crispy fry prosciutto well enough to stand up in a deviled egg.


But I had to also have a great base deviled egg recipe. Mary is the mother of a friend of mine, and Mary's deviled egg recipe is LEGENDARILY delicious. So, after much cajoling and prodding, my friend finally stole his mom's deviled egg recipe and forwarded it to me. And, truth be told, it IS a great recipe - just mayonnaise, mustard, and a little salt and pepper. But it needed something extra to put it over the top. And I had something extra, crispy-fried prosciutto, looking for a great base recipe.


And, thus, a star was born. Officially, these are "The Best Deviled Eggs." Here is the recipe:

6 hard-boiled eggs
3 slices prosciutto di parma
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
fresh ground pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Slice the prosciutto into strips that are approximately 2-3 inches long a 1/2-1 inch wide.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
3. Crispy fry each piece of prosciutto in the olive oil, approximately 10-15 seconds each side.
4. Drain the crispy fried prosciutto on paper towels.
5. In a separate bowl, crumble egg yolks until very fine.
6. Add mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper (to taste)
7. Fill egg white halves with egg yolk mixture.
8. Carefully stand a small strip of crispy fried prosciutto in each deviled egg.
9. Garnish with parsley (if desired)


Above: the prosciutto before cooking, a piece of prosciutto being crispy fried, the finished crispy fried prosciutto


Above: adding the mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper



Above: the deviled eggs with prosciutto in them, and garnished with parsley

It took about a dozen tries, but this recipe was worth it. First of all, I don't use any salt in the base recipe (although my friend's mom, Mary, does) because I thought the prosciutto added enough saltiness. And with just egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard, and some pepper, this base is, quite frankly, as good as it gets. It lets the cool factor of the crispy fried prosciutto stand out. Second, I kind of like the simplicity of the deviled eggs with JUST prosciutto, but the parsley as a garnish does make them look better.

Crispy frying prosciutto was a trial and error process, too. First, I tried to crispy fry the prosciutto THEN cut it up, but it was so crumbly that it became unusable. Then I experimented with using other oils, or no oil at all. Big mistake. Then I experimented with how big to make the slices, since they shrink up substantially when being fried. About 2-3 inches long by about 1/2-1 inch wide works perfectly. And you might have a little extra to use as a delicious snack! Plus, crispy frying prosciutto is MUCH easier than frying bacon, if a little smokier.

Here are the scores:

Overall: 85 out of 100
Texture: 18 out of 20 (Mary's recipe is a nearly perfect proportion)
Flavor: 19 out of 20
Uniqueness: 17 out of 20
Appearance: 16 out of 20 (when you use the parsley)
Ease of preparation: 15 out of 20

So, yep, these are the winners (so far). After 30+ recipes tested trying to find "The Best Deviled Eggs", the math proves it. With a score of 85 out of 100, this recipe outscores everything - even the delicious Bacon and Cheese Deviled Eggs which had been the winner.

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