Eggs. I love them. Tomato sauce. Basil. Favourite things. Together. In one little ramekin. Zing! Brunch delight.
This was very simple to make and no fuss at all. I was inspired by this recipe but tweaked it a good bit to beef it up.
What you need for Baked Eggs for 2 lucky people
2 free-range eggs
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 slices of Parma ham, chopped into small chunks
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon of chilli powder
Small bunch of fresh basil leaves, torn or roughly chopped
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Start off by making your sauce first. Heat your oil over a medium to high heat and add your garlic for 2-3 minutes until starting to lightly brown. Add your Parma ham and fry for another minute or two.
I used Parma ham as it was what I had in the fridge, but Pancetta could work really well here, or even regular old bacon. If you do substitute the parma ham, I’d start the bacon/pancetta cooking before the garlic. After all, the Parma doesn’t need to be cooked, it’s just nice to fry it a bit to release the natural oil to vavavoom the sauce.
Add your chopped tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.
Add the splash of balsamic vinegar – this will sweeten the sauce, a good Jamie Oliver tip – followed by the teaspoon of chilli.
Let the sauce simmer away for 10 or 15 minutes, so the flavours get to know each other and it thickens yummily.
Meanwhile, heat your oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4.
Once your sauce has thickened, add your torn basil leaves to the sauce and give it all a nice stir. Divide the sauce into two ramekins or individual baking dishes. Leave enough space to crack an egg on top and pop them into the oven. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the egg has set.
Now, my eggs were quite well done – not over done but with a set yolk. I am a big fan of runny eggs so next time I might give the eggs 10 minutes instead. Mind though, I have a curiously hot oven.
Serve it up – mind the hot ramekins! – with a bit of toast to scoop out all the lovely sauce and eggy goodness. Total noms.
TUNE
Saturday night saw us at The Sugar Club to check out The Middle East, a band from Townsville, Australia. Check out their song Blood over on The Hype Machine, it’s beautiful.
Blood – The Middle East – The Hype Machine
Categories: Breakfast
June 29, 2010 at 9:21 am
yum I love baked eggs – never done them with tomatoes and chilli though – nice. Hope the middle east gig was good
June 29, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Thanks Lucy, they’re really good with the tomato sauce. And I like the extra kick of the chilli – not too hot, mind, just a bit to raise up the sauce. Nom.
Middle East gig wasn’t quite as good as we were expecting, a little bland at times, but overall it was good, with some excellent moments.
June 29, 2010 at 7:17 pm
I don’t think I’ve ever had baked eggs, but I definitely want to try them now. Especially with the chilli – what a lovely start to the morning! Looks delicious
June 30, 2010 at 3:51 pm
They’re lovely, definitely give them a go. And the tomato sauce with the chilli is the bomb.
July 3, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Love baked eggs and brunch! Next time try buttering the ramekins and lining with two slices of proscuitto, making a pouch. Then crack the egg into the proscuitto pouch. Add a dash of cream, grate some parmesan, salt and pepper and bake. Use a palette knife to remove after 10 mins and you should have a parcel of baked proscuitto with baked egg. Serve on greens, or griddled bread. Srsly tasty….
July 4, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Hi David – thanks for visiting the blog! And what a great idea that is. I’ll have to give it a go next weekend for brunch. Nom.
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July 15, 2010 at 10:07 am
Hi Aoife!
I tried your baked egg brunch recipe last weekend and was absolutely delighted by the result. I thought you might be interested in the Team Wholegrain recipe-making competition; the prize for the best recipe is a fabulous weekend trip for two to Lesley Waters’ cooking school in Dorset.
The details of the competition are as follows:
1. Create a recipe including a whole grain cereal from Nestle. Options include Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, Shreddies and Oats & More. A full list can be found at the Team Whole Grain website at http://www.wholegrain.co.uk.
2. Write up the recipe and email it to teamwholegrain@mslworldwide.com.
3. The deadline for entering the competition is the 31st of July.
We really hope you enter! Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions
Olivia
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January 31, 2011 at 10:13 pm
This reminds me of Eggs in Purgatory. I found a recipe for it in the Sopranos Cookbook. You cook eggs in tomato puree and various other ingredients.
February 1, 2011 at 12:19 pm
The Sopranos Cookbook?? No shit! That sounds AWESOME! I’ll have to get that for my kitchen-resistant but Tony S-obsessed Dad and see if he gets into cooking.
I LOVE baked eggs. Could possibly be my favourite way to eat them. They’re so good with tomato sauce. It definitely takes a bit more effort than frying or poaching but it rocks. I still haven’t perfected them though, they yolks are often a bit too cooked for me. I think one of those ban marie thingies would help, you know a water bath thing.
This is a good recipe though, I’ve made this a few times, never fails – except for the too-well done yolk of course.