In a recipe like this one from Olivia Pattison, high quality ingredients make all the difference. Buy locally baked bread and fresh, local eggs.

Makes 4 tartines

  • 1 loaf good-quality sourdough, preferably unsliced (you will have extra)
  • 1 dozen fresh eggs, preferably local
  • 3/4 cup high quality neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 cup parsley (leaves and tender stems)
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher or scant 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • Fresh chives
  • Sea salt for garnish (Martha’s Vineyard Sea Salt is local)
  • Fresh pepper

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a medium-large pot or Dutch oven. Blanch the parsley in the water for about 3 seconds. (Tip: Put the parsley in a fine-meshed strainer and lower into the water.) Rinse the parsley in cold water to cool. Set aside.

Drop 10 of the eggs in the boiling water, cook for 8 minutes, and remove from the water. Immediately put the eggs under cold running water to cool.

Using a microplane or other rasp-style zester, zest the entire lemon. If you don’t have a zester, peel the lemon, getting as little pith as possible, and chop finely.

Juice half of the lemon.

Separate the yolks from the remaining two eggs; discard the whites or save for another purpose. Put the yolks in a large, heavy bowl and whisk with the lemon juice until fully incorporated. Slowly begin to add the neutral oil in a steady stream, while continually whisking. Continue until all the oil is incorporated, and then add the olive oil slowly. Add the salt and whisk well. Chop the blanched parsley finely and add the parsley and lemon zest to the mixture. Whisk until combined. Refrigerate until using.

Peel and slice the eggs, and slice the bread (you’ll only need 4 slices) into one-inch thick slices. Liberally coat each bread slice with herbed mayonaise and top with egg slices.

Slice the chives into one-inch pieces and garnish the tartines with the chives, sea salt and fresh pepper.

This recipe first appeared with this article.