Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Baked Eggs Over Goat Cheese, Spinach, Red Pepper and Cherry Tomatoes

 
I love breakfast, but am not a morning person.  This is not really a dilemma on days off or if you have a job that doesn't require your presence at any particular time.  Unfortunately the latter is not the case for me.  Most days I need to be at work at 8 or 9 am.  Which I know, is not particularly trying, but for a non-morning person, you don't get up at the same time everyday to make breakfast on the late days.  You sleep in and then continue to press snooze until you just have enough time to shower, dress, and pick up an iced coffee at the local liquor/bagel/ice cream shop (I have no idea how they came up with this particular combo, but it works).

Last week, I had a quiet night on call Monday, so ended up sleeping in my own bed.  I woke up early without the alarm, because I was still adjusting from my jet lag.  And I decided to take the opportunity to make breakfast.

Baked eggs had been on my mind for more than a month, and we still had a few things left from the garden.  I picked a pepper and some cherry tomatoes and set to work.


Baked eggs are cooked in individual ramekins, which Partner in Crime and I decided makes them even more appealing.  Now I had never done this before, but decided for construction I would place the sauteed veggies on the bottom of the ramekin (after buttering), place a round of goat cheese on top, and then break the egg on top of that.  This turned out to be perfect, and dipping in with some toast divine as you get to each layer.  One baked egg with toast would probably be sufficient for a breakfast serving, but we indulged and ate two each.


Baked Eggs Over Goat Cheese, Spinach, Red Pepper and Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
olive oil
butter (for the ramekins)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium red bell pepper
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large handfuls of baby spinach
crushed red pepper
salt
goat cheese, about 2 oz
4 eggs
3-4 Tbsp of cream, half and half or whole milk
Serves 2-4, depending on how hungry you are.

First grease 4 individual ramekins with butter and set aside.  Preheat oven to 350F

Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a medium sized frying pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and stir while it cooks.  Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Now add the red pepper, stirring occasionally, and cook until just tender.  Add cherry tomatoes and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted.  Add 1-2 dashes of crushed red pepper and 2 dashes of salt.  Remove mixture from heat.

Now divide vegetable mixture equally among the 4 ramekins.   Place a 1/4-1/2 inch round of goat cheese on top of the mixture in each ramekin.  Break an egg in each ramekin, taking care for the yolk to remain intact.   To keep the top moist, pour 1/2-1 Tbsp of half and half (or cream or whole milk) over the top of each egg.  Start with 1/2 Tbsp and add more as necessary to moisten to entire surface of the egg.

Bake at 350F for about 12-15 minutes until the white of the egg is completely cooked and the goat cheese is beginning to bubble up around the edges.  Serve warm with toast for dipping. 

5 comments:

  1. ooh - I've been looking for an alternative to our fritatta rut, & this looks like IT! Yum - & I love that it's baked. Thanks for posting!

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  2. yum, all of these ingredients together look amazing!

    -amanda
    www.seegirlcook.com

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  3. That looks so tasty! And the ingredients are really healthy too, great combination. I really like the idea of a hot egg over goat cheese, it sounds dangerously good...

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  4. Just went and bought my ingredients! (I didn't have goat cheese) Can't wait to try it!

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