Beet deviled eggs aka Beetroot devilled eggs for Easter brunch

Beet-pickled eggs have made quite a few appearances here on Nami-Nami. First in April 2007, then again in March 2008, but in a marbled form. The ruby eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2009, and ruby-red quail eggs were present on our Easter brunch in 2012. Probably in 2010 and 2011 as well, I just forgot to take a photo of them. If you read Estonian, then you saw them in my recipe column in the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed ("Home and Garden") magazine as well:


Photo by Juta Kübarsepp for the March 2013 issue of Kodu ja Aed

Yet it had never occurred to me to make deviled beet eggs until I came across this post on The Kitchn (well, I actually first spotted the recipe on Pinterest, where I promptly pinned this to my Beautiful Beet Recipes board). I had to make them.

Deviled beet eggs/Beet deviled eggs/Ruby eggs/Beetroot devilled eggs

Step 1: Simple beetroot eggs:
free range and/or organic eggs
beetroot juice/beet juice
salt

First you need to hard-boil some eggs. There are several "schools" of boiling eggs, but here's what I do. Place the required number of eggs in a single layer in your saucepan. Pour over boiling water to cover. Set the timer at 8 minutes (I use large eggs, 7 is enough for smaller eggs) and simmer over moderate heat.  Once the timer goes off, rinse the eggs under a cold running water for a few minutes to cool them down.

Note that you don't want  to overcook your eggs, as this results in those unsightly green-blue rings around the egg yolk, caused by sulphur compounds. You can avoid those by not overcooking your eggs in the first place and quickly cooling them down in cold water after cooking. 

When cool enough to handle, peel the eggs carefully. Place in a single layer in a bowl, pour over the beetroot juice, season with a bit of salt. Cover, place into the fridge and leave to marinate for about 3 hours. (Longer, if you want, but I wanted just a thin ruby-red beetroot effect this time).

If you wish, you can serve the eggs just like this, halved - look at that gorgeous yellow yolk! I cut off a thin slice from the base of each egg half - this way they sit neatly on the plate and don't slide all over the place or fall over.


Hey, I still have that chicken!

Step 2: Stuffed beetroot eggs/Deviled beet eggs:

If you want to make devilled beetroot eggs, then halve the eggs and gently scoop out the egg yolks. Make your favourite devilled egg mixture. My regular "Estonian deviled eggs" include some mustard, butter and mayonnaise. However, knowing the affinity of beets and horseradish, I used egg yolks, butter, mayonnaise, some strong horseradish and finely chopped dill for the filling. Worked like a treat!



To be more precise, then that's what I did. Mash the egg yolks and butter (I grate the butter and egg yolks finely, but you can also press them both through a sieve). Stir in the mayonnaise and season with salt and horseradish. Mix in the dill.
Spoon onto the egg halves or use an icing bag with a serrated tip and fill the eggs.

Enjoy! You can make these a few hours in advance, but keep them in the fridge until serving then.

More ruby egg/beetroot egg/beet egg recipes:
Perfect hard-boiled ruby eggs by Alanna @ A Veggie Venture
Beet-pickled deviled eggs by Leela @ The Kitchn
Beetroot-pickled eggs by Allegra McEvedy @ The Guardian
Beet pickled eggs with fennel @ Not Without Salt
Beet pickled deviled eggs by Paula @ Bell'Alimento
Pink deviled eggs by Denise @ Chez Us
Beet deviled eggs by Angie @ Eclectic Recipes
Pickled deviled eggs by Kelly @ Just A Taste
Beet-pickled eggs @ Cookistry