Wild Eggs with Nduja and Black Chickpeas: A recipe by the Italian Chef’s Alliance

Wild Eggs with Nduja and Black Chickpeas represents the innovative style of honoring traditional ingredients followed by chef Cesare Battisti.

Since an early age, Cesare Battisti had an affinity for the kitchen. Born and raised in Milan, Cesare is now chef and co-owner of Ratanà, and he is considered one of the most representative chefs of traditional and quality cuisine, attentive to the use of excellent raw materials from small producers and focused on the themes of food sustainability, but also economic, environmental and social sustainability.

His philosophy is 360 degrees work with raw material, seasonality, and sustainability, so that “good, clean and fair” is not limited only to the product, but also to the ethics of the producers, carefully chosen over the years and who are the first to work with respect for the territory.

Image credit Ratanà restaurant

As a young man, Cesare worked in the most prestigious catering in Milan, later following his cooking passion working around the world aboard cruise ships, an experience that allowed him to get to know distant cultures and foods. When he returned to Milan, he felt the need to devote himself to traditional cuisine. In 2009, together with his friend Danilo Ingannamorte he founded Ratanà, one of the first contemporary taverns in Italy. Here he interprets the Lombard gastronomic tradition by revisiting it and proposing it in a modern style through seemingly simple preparations using innovative cooking techniques and an emphasis on raw materials. A modern kitchen deeply linked to memory, because cooking is made up of memories, places, sensations that evoke moments, childhood, home.

Ratanà is the story and the signature of his vision through which, together with his workgroup, he expresses not only cuisine and professionalism, but also social responsibility, respect for the territory and for all the artisans and producers. A philosophy that he tried to summarize in ten points, in his motto “Sustainability behind all rhetoric.”

Cesare has been a member of the Slow Food Chefs Alliance since 2010, and according to Carlo Petrini, he embodies a model for all cooks today. In 2015 Cesare was appointed Chef Ambassador of Expo 2015 and was included among the 100 Chefs who have changed Italian cuisine in the last 10 years in the book published by Mondadori Cento x 10. Among his accolades, he is the Secretary-General of the non-profit association Ambasciatori del Gusto; and collaborates with other non-profit organizations and associations to support Action against Hunger and Helpcode.

Cesare presents us with this innovative dish he calls “Uovo di selva, n’duja in polvere e Ceci Neri Delle Murge croccanti e in crema” Wild egg powdered n’duja, creamy and crispy black chickpeas from the Murge area in the Apulia region.

The “wild” egg refers to eggs from pastured hens and the respect to extensive animal husbandry in an era of caged animals. Nduja is a spicy, spreadable sausage from Calabria, used widely on pasta and pizza dishes. And the black chickpeas have long been grown in the Murgia Carsica, the southern part of the Murgia around Bari, characterized by karst formations and caves. The chickpea is small and very dark, with a wrinkled and a hooked shape

Wild egg powdered nduja, creamy and crispy black chickpeas

Ingredients for 4 people 

4 Wild eggs

50 grams Carnaroli rice

200 grams Murge black chickpeas 

100 grams Nduja 

Salt and pepper Extra virgin olive oil 

Instructions 

• Soak the black chickpeas in cold water with a teaspoon of bicarbonate for 48 hours. Separately, cook 50g of rice with 150 ml water for 40 minutes. Once cooked, let it cool. Then blend it with 100 g of ‘nduja to obtain a cream. 
• Spread the cream on an oven plate and let it dry in the oven at 50℃ overnight. Then grind it in a food processor to get the powder. 
• Rinse and cook the chickpeas in water for about 2 hours. Puree ¾ until soft, adjust salt and pepper. 
• Stir fry the remaining 1/4 chickpeas until crispy.
• Cook the eggs for 5 min. in water, then peel them. 
• Place a tablespoon of chickpea puree on the plate, place the egg on it and sprinkle with powdered ‘nduja and the crispy chickpeas. 
• You can serve it with vegetables, maybe some sautéed chicory.