Soft-Boiled Eggs & Ham Soldiers

📝 Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 4 slices wholemeal bread (about 40 g each)
• 2 slices cooked ham (about 40 g each)
• 30 g grated Emmental
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 4 fresh chive stalks
• 2 oranges (about 200 g each)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Small saucepan
• Frying pan with lid
• Tablespoon
• Timer
• 4 egg cups
• Knife

📖 Steps

1. Take the eggs out of the fridge before anything else: if they're not so cold, they're less likely to crack when they hit the hot water. Fill a small saucepan with water (the eggs must be well covered) and bring to the boil.
2. While the water heats up, toast the slices of wholemeal bread in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, about 2 minutes per side, until golden and nicely crisp.
3. Turn the heat under the frying pan down to low. Spread each slice with a thin layer of mustard, top with half a slice of ham and sprinkle with Emmental. Cover and leave to melt for 1 to 2 minutes, then cut each slice into 4 soldiers about 2 cm wide.
4. Turn down the heat under the saucepan so the water simmers gently (small bubbles, not a rolling boil). Lower the eggs in one at a time with a tablespoon, without dropping them to the bottom.
5. Start a timer straight away and cook for exactly 3 minutes 30 seconds: the white will be set and the yolk nicely runny. For a slightly thicker yolk, go up to 4 minutes; at 6 minutes, you'd already have a jammy egg.
6. Lift the eggs out with the spoon and stand them in the egg cups, pointed end up. Give the top of the shell a sharp tap with a knife, then lift off the cap, about 1 cm deep.
7. Lightly season the yolk with salt and pepper and sprinkle with chives snipped with scissors. Cut the oranges into wedges. Serve the eggs straight away with the still-warm soldiers for dipping into the yolk, and the orange on the side.