These Martha Stewart deviled eggs get their heat from a roasted red pepper filling blended with Dijon, mayonnaise, and Tabasco. The peppers turn the filling bright orange, and the whole batch of 16 takes about 35 minutes.
The recipe comes straight from marthastewart.com, where it first appeared in Everyday Food in October 2011 as a spooky party hors d’oeuvre. Nothing here is adapted or guessed, since the ingredients, measurements, and method all come from Martha’s published original.
Pat the roasted peppers completely dry before they go in the food processor, because jarred peppers carry a lot of brine. Skip this and the filling turns loose and watery, which means it slides off the whites instead of holding a piped swirl.
Martha Stewart Deviled Eggs
Course: SidesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy16
servings15
minutes20
minutes50
kcal35
minutesThese spicy deviled eggs build a slow, warm kick into a silky filling with a festive speckled top. They disappear fast at Halloween parties, game days, and potlucks.
Ingredients
8 large eggs
⅓ cup (60g) jarred roasted red peppers, patted dry
2 tablespoons (30g) mayonnaise
3 teaspoons (15ml) Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons (10ml) hot sauce, such as Tabasco
Ground pepper, to taste
Poppy seeds, for serving
Directions
- Start the eggs. Put the eggs in a medium pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch (2.5cm).
- Cook off the heat. Bring to a boil over high, cover the pot, and pull it off the burner. Let the eggs sit for 11 minutes.
- Cool them down. Transfer the eggs to a colander and run cold water over them until you can handle them.
- Blend the pepper base. In a food processor, combine the peppers, mayonnaise, Dijon, and hot sauce. Process until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Peel and halve. Peel the eggs and slice each one in half lengthwise. Lift out the yolks and keep the whites intact.
- Finish the filling. Add the yolks to the processor and blend until smooth, scraping down the side as needed. Season to taste with ground pepper.
- Fill and serve. Pipe or spoon the filling into the whites. Sprinkle with poppy seeds before serving.
FAQs
Why does Martha cook the eggs off the heat?
The pot only reaches a boil, then it comes off the burner with the lid on. The trapped heat cooks the eggs gently for the full 11 minutes.
A hard rolling boil bounces the eggs around, which cracks shells and leaves a gray-green ring on the yolks. Gently set yolks stay bright yellow and blend into a smoother filling. It’s the same trick behind her basic hard boiled eggs.
Can I use a fresh red pepper instead of jarred?
Not straight from raw. A raw pepper is crunchy and full of water, so it never breaks down into the smooth paste this filling needs.
If fresh is all you have, char a red bell pepper under the broiler until the skin blackens, about 10 minutes. Steam it in a covered bowl for 10 minutes, slip off the skin, and it behaves like the jarred kind.
Why poppy seeds instead of paprika on top?
The recipe was designed for a Halloween spread, so black seeds against the orange filling give you holiday colors without any dye. They also add a faint crunch that powdered paprika can’t.
Left sitting on the moist filling, the seeds soften and lose their contrast, which is why the garnish waits until the end. Outside of October, smoked paprika or sliced chives look just as good on the same base.
Can I make the filling without a food processor?
You can, but mince the peppers as fine as possible first, because a fork will never break them down. Mash the yolks until no lumps remain, then beat everything together until creamy.
The processor matters most if you plan to pipe, since hand-mixed filling stays slightly coarse and can clog a small tip. Spoon it into the whites instead and nobody will notice.
How far ahead can I make these deviled eggs?
The parts keep better than the finished eggs. Cook and peel the eggs up to a day ahead, and store the filling sealed in its piping bag in the fridge. Fill the whites within a few hours of serving.
Filled eggs weep in the fridge, so the whites turn rubbery and the filling loosens by the next day. Unlike her scalloped potatoes, which reheat well, these don’t get a second life, and freezing splits the mayonnaise.
