Spanish style Baked Eggs

Whenever I see baked eggs on a menu, I’d have to order it. I’d even skip the Eggs Benedict for this. Serious. It’s the kind of dish that makes a gloomy day seems so much brighter, the birds sing, and my heart smiles. How does the heart look like when it smiles? Errr….. I prefer not to imagine that. Plus point for being kind to the waistline. That always helps.

I have been having problems naming this particular version of baked eggs. Originally this would probably be a Spanish dish, as I used to cook this with Chorizo Sausages. But I’ve replaced the meat with Cannellini Beans. The fact that it’s usually cooked with Eggplants, Capsicums, Tomatoes, Zucchini and Onions pulls it closer to a Ratatouille with Baked eggs. But I didn’t use the Zucchini this time. It’s not quite Shakshouka either although it does have similar spice profile. Are you dizzy yet?

Regardless of what it’s called, this is a delicious dish perfect for the weekend brunch. Even though we actually had it for dinner. So we’ll stick with Spanish style.

Love the vibrant colours! Most appetizing!

Ingredients:

1 brown onions
1 red capsicum
1 eggplant
1 stalk celery
1 can of canned tomatoes
1 can of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/4 cup White wine
Salt and Pepper
Eggs
1 handful of chopped Parsley
Cayenne Pepper, to taste

Chop all the vegetables into rough dice.

In a large pot, heat a little olive oil and stir in the onions and garlic, cook until soften. Add celery and cook for 1 minute or two. Then add the rest of the vegetables and stir until well combined.

In another pan, dry roast and coriander, paprika and cumin until fragrant, then add to the vegetable pot with tomatoes and wine. Cook for about half an hour, stirring regularly, and season to taste.

Take a cast iron pan (I happen to have a small one perfect for 2 servings, you can even use ramekins too), add just enough vegetable mix to about two-thirds. Crack one or two eggs (or more, if larger serving) into the dish and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Cook in 200 degree Celsius oven until the eggs are set, which would be around 20 minutes. Sprinkle extra ground black pepper on top.

Serve as it is, or with toasted bread. I like to just dig in, first ‘attacking’ the egg yolks.

Like this.

Another versatile dish where you can add or substitute ingredients at will. We had the rest of the vegetables mix with some grilled Haloumi cheese. Equally delicious.

So tell me, what is your favourite breakfast or brunch dish?