Oozy Quail Egg Ravioli

These pillows of supple egg pasta, each coddling a single quivering yolk of a quail's egg, are probably best consumed after your annual cholestrol test. But, you only live once (although, funnily enough, the health police will likely say the same). The dish, based on that found in Rick Tramonto's Tru, is exceedingly rich - which thus makes it perfect as a small first course, each person getting a modest helping of just two ravioli. Do the math, and the heart-stopping number of eggs required for the full recipe really isn't so heart-stopping. And honestly, if you're going to spend that weekly egg quota in one go, you may as well do it boldly.

As with most good things, it's not for the faint of heart - I love eggs, so I mean this metaphorically rather than literally. This recipe, as is the case with others in the book, is a time-consuming multi-component affair involving fairly lavish ingredients - to be exact, it sprawls across 3 whole pages excluding the picture. To make each dumpling, the carefully separated quail egg yolk is nestled atop a dollop of herb-scented cauliflower cream then daubed with truffle butter before being swathed by sheets of pasta. The cooked ravioli are gently plopped onto an aromatic puddle of porcini puree, dressed with a frothy porcini emulsion, slivers of seared mushrooms (I used a mixture of dried porcini, king oyster, and portobello) and shavings of parmesan, then finished with white truffle oil and chives.

If the ravioli have been correctly cooked (precisely 1 minute from when the water returns to a boil), whence spoon pierces pasta, rivulets of truffle-scented yolk, all runny and golden, will ooze. Shamelessly indulgent on every level, and unapologetically so, I daresay the guilt makes the eating even more of a pleasure.