What's up with our obsession with tiny things? Like, when I made these quail eggs I felt genuine joy over how small they were. What the shit? I turned to Google to help me figure it all out and instead found an amazing gallery of tiny animals with even tinier objects and literally nothing else matters. Oh except for this list of "58 Very Tiny Cute Things." Other than tiny animals and quail eggs, I'm also super into miniature corn dogs, miniature soaps and shampoos, tiny vegetables, single serving little boxes of breakfast cereal oh and also those little hot dogs that you could get in Lunchables that are most certainly the least healthy thing I've ever put in my body ever.

The only things I'm not cool with being tiny are liquor bottles and chocolate bars. I get that the single serving bottles of alcohol they serve on planes are like adorable to some people but... how. dare. you. shrink down something so precious? And then with chocolate bars, like, yeah sis I'm gonna need the whole thing. The whole big chocolate bar thing. Not a bite-size. Don't fuck with my heart like that.

I think the next time I make these little deviled quail eggs I'm going to set up an entire miniature breakfast scene. Like, a miniature little plate full of deviled eggs and a tiny cup of orange juice and a tiny coffee mug and a tiny me blowing out my hair with a tiny hairdryer and a tiny Matt reading a tiny book about wine and terroir and honestly Fox can just stay the same cause he's already so tiny if we shrunk him down he'd be invisible.

I got inspiration for these little bites of love from an IRL little bite of love, Billy over at Wit & Vinegar, who's got a really great "How to Be a Basic" series going on that covers topics like fudge brownies, cranberry sauce, pumpkin spice, and most recently, deviled eggs. Looking at all the mounds of fluffy yolky goodness on his site had me hankering for my own fluffy mound of yolky goodness, but in miniature. So then I found myself up at midnight polishing off the last drops of a bottle of syrah while peeling three dozen tiny little hard boiled egg friends. It was worth it. Recipe below, sweeties.

Deviled Quail Eggs with Dill and Crispy Prosciutto

Makes 6 dz bites*

3 dozen quail eggs
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 oz prosciutto
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
1 teaspoon pickle juice
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1 t olive oil

Before you boil the quail eggs, fill up a large mixing bowl with an ice bath, which is where the quail eggs will be place immediately following the boiling to halt the cooking process and also make it a bit easier to peel them.
To make the crispy prosciutto, heat your oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with a lip with parchment paper, and toss the prosciutto with the olive oil. Layer the prosciutto onto the baking sheet, making sure it's flat and not folded over itself at all. Place in the oven when it's ready and cook for about 12 minutes, until it appears crispy and the edges have rippled up. Remove from the oven and let cool while you prepare the rest of the components for the deviled eggs.
Unless you've got a massive pot, you're going to need to boil the quail eggs in batches, which is no big deal cause they only take about three minutes to boil. Bring two or so inches of water to boil in a saucepan and, using a large spoon, gently add as many quail eggs that will comfortably fit in one layer on the bottom of the pot. Let boil for three and half to four minutes before removing and immediately placing in the ice bath. Repeat until all eggs are boiled.
The best way to peel these little bitches is to just run some cold water from the faucet over them while you gently use your fingers tips to remove the shell. Just give it a small crack on the counter top to give you a point of entry and go at it. Once they are all peeled and you've got a huge bowl of tiny little white orbs, use a pairing knife to cut them in half, and then carefully separate the yolks from the whites, placing the yolks into a mixing bowl and the whites onto your serving platter or tray. If the whites have a lot of yolk crumbs on them, go ahead and use a damp paper towel to wipe them off and make em real pretty.
Use a fork or whisk to fully incorporate the mayo, pickle juice, and mustard into the yolks. This next step is optional but helps create a better texture and appearance, run this mixture through a fine-mesh wire sieve to remove any lumps or impurities. Whisk in the salt and pepper. Crumble most of the prosciutto into the yolk mixture, reserving some to top the eggs with, and fold in the dill.
You can either transport this to a piping bag with a wide tip (the prosciutto will jam anything too small) or do what I did and just spoon it into a zip top bag and cut off a corner. Squeeze equal amounts into each egg white and top with remaining prosciutto and little sprigs of dill. Yas.

Notes

This recipe has the fixings to make 6 dozen pieces (3 dozen eggs cut in half), but you'll probably mess a few up because it's easy to tear the whites or crack the eggs during boiling (AKA shit happens). So, if you need six dozen bites, I'd recommend adding 6 - 12 extra eggs to this recipe and adjusting the ingredients for the filling accordingly!

Deviled Quail Eggs with Dill + Crispy Prosciutto