Where would any cook be without eggs? They give colour to our pasta and creamy thickness to our sauces, and that's before one even begins to take into account the nutritional benefits of such a healthy, filling, protein-packed ingredient. Often playing an important part in dishes behind the scenes, this collection of egg recipes aims to celebrate this most hardworking of ingredient, make it the star of the dish in its own right.

Gaetano Trovato's Asparagus and egg recipe does just that, playing on the colour and appearance of both egg yolk and white in a stunningly creative starter. The distinctive shape of an egg hasn't escaped the notice of a few of our chefs, who play on this domed appearance in their presentation of dishes. Luca Marchiori's Easter pie recipe contains whole eggs inside, while Sally Abé's classic Carbonara recipe is a simple combination of egg, cheese and bacon. Heinrich Schneider's stunning Free-range egg, dried morels and caviar recipe is served in a hollowed out egg shell, while Pino Cuttaia goes one step further and disguises his seafood starter as a boiled egg (complete with shell) in his Cuttlefish egg with ink and ricotta dish.