Monday 31 May 2010

Spicy Baked Eggs

One thing I usually make sure to do at the weekend is to take the time to have a nice proper breakfast or brunch. Weekday breakfasts consist of sad dusty bowls of miserable muesli at my desk, waiting for my email to load, or slices of slightly warm toast, bolted down while I run around the flat trying to find my keys. It makes the weekend a far more appreciated, leisurely affair.

Eggs feature heavily. They are comforting for healing the damages of Friday night beers, and they settle the stomach nicely. Recently I've taken to baking eggs in ramekins so that the whites are just set and the soft yolk oozes over the bread-dunking assault.

I went for a healthier version of the usual baked eggs with spinach, cream, butter and other niceties and made this smoky, chilli-packed version instead. A single dried chipotle chilli gave it plenty of kick with a background of smokiness that complemented the tomato well. If I wasn't still sick to death of them, this would go nicely with rice cooked with beans.

Spicy Baked Eggs

Serves 4

4 large eggs
1 tin of tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 onion
1 fat clove of garlic
1 courgette
1 tsp sugar
1 stick of celery
1 dried chipotle chilli
2 avocados
4 flour tortillas
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Dice the onion, celery and the garlic and sweat in a frying pan gently. Meanwhile, rehydrate the chipotle chilli in a little boiling water. Once the onions are golden, add the tinned tomato and the tomato puree. Chop up the chipotle chilli and cut the courgette into chunks. Add to the tomato mixture along with the tomato puree and sugar, give it all a big stir and leave to simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When ready, spoon the tomato mixture into 4 ramekins, reserving about 2 tbsp. Crack an egg into each ramekin, carefully spoon a little more mixture on top and season lightly. Drizzle the extra virgin olive oil over the eggs. Cover with foil and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolk is still runny.

To serve, halve the avocados, skin them and slice thinly. Season with salt and pepper, and serve on the side. Place the tortillas under the grill until they are browned and nicely puffed up.

14 comments:

Helen said...

Looks yummy! Glad to see those smoky chillies are coming in useful. Nice plate. I bet you wish you had six of them.

shayma said...

i LOVE this. absolutely adore eggs, spicy eggs- especially and avocado- mmmm. x shayma

Unknown said...

just curious, but what camera do you use to take photos of your food?

OH! i better check that chicken rice out! I absolutely love chicken rice ( i tried rasa singpore * think that is the name * in leceister sq, chinatown... terrible!!)...

keep up the posts, i love your blog! :)

come stop by and i would appreciate any food suggestions/advice too! :)
http://ekaishi.wordpress.com/

aoife mc said...

Oooh lovely, lovely. I too am a big fan of the weekend brunch. And not least because I'm usually in need of some detoxing eggs on a Sunday morning.

Will definitely be trying these asap. Yumzers!

PDH said...

Looks great, I do love an oeuf en cocotte. I alway go cheesey though but this sounds much more restorative with the chilli and tomato.

Jonathan said...

Nice. I've got a lot of time for the smokey heat of chipotle chillies. I think I'd need about 3 of these though!

Helen (Fuss Free Flavours) said...

Lovely eggs. And I like the plate - my mother has one remaining from an entire set.

Hollow Legs said...

Helen - They are coming in very useful; they should do, for that price! I do wish I had 6. I was a fool for only buying two.

Shayma - Thanks! Avocados are a favourite of mine too.

Elizabeth - My camera is a Canon A720IS. I've had it a few years so it's getting on a bit now.

Aoife mc - Thanks! Do let me know if you give it a go.

Paul - I can sometimes find cheesy baked eggs a bit much on a delicate morning, so this works out as a great alternative.

Jonathan - 3 of the eggs or 3 of the chillis? I was suprised by how spicy the chipotle chilli was, I was all ready to lob another in. Perhaps it was because I left the seeds in...

catty said...

we all know how much I love my baked eggs and these looks F**KING DELICIOUS. I can't get baked eggs right yet and I think it's actually the stupid bowl that I try to bake them in. That's right, I'm blaming the BOWL. I want some of yours!!

George@CulinaryTravels said...

These look delightful. I don't usually go for baked eggs, (my favourite way is to cook them in a shakshuka style) but I'll definitely give these a try.

Unknown said...

I love baked eggs - such an easy way to give eggs a different twist and these look great.

BribedwithFood said...

Oh, how I love the relaxing and indulgent feeling of a weekend brunch.
And, oh, how I love baked eggs.
And these look amazingly tasty.
One could dunk warm corn tortillas in them too?
Must try and report back.

Unknown said...

So simple I love it... Though I was hoping to find some pictures of you looking like you never want to have a steak again!

Anonymous said...

Don't have dusty muesli - this stuff's ace!
http://www.nigella.com/recipe/recipe_detail.aspx?rid=216