Eggs in Purgatory
Baked eggs are a beautiful addition to the breakfast repertoire. They take a little longer than other styles [scrambled, fried, poached], but it yields such a great texture. I was intrigued by this dish mostly because it didn’t have a ton of potatoes. Don’t get me wrong, I love potatoes, but sometimes they just really weigh you down for breakfast. For brunch it doesn’t seem so bad, but at 9am? I don’t want a fat plate of potatoes [usually]. I subbed out certain items, like the fire roasted tomatoes, for what I had on hand. I think it would have been better had I actually had the fire roasted tomatoes. I also would have doubled or tripled the chili flake. I just like things spicy. It was still good, though–filling without the food coma.
Adapted from Bon Appetit – Serves 2
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme [I used 1 teaspoon of dried]
- 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper [double or triple if you like spice]
- Coarse kosher salt
- Cracked pepper
- 4-5 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, drained [I used marinated and jarred, but rinsed them]
- 1 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
- 4 ounces red-skinned or white-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- 4 large eggs
- 1/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra because some people want more cheese than others
Preparation
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.
- Saute onion with thyme, chili flake, and salt until onion is golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and artichokes.
- After one minute, add tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer about 15 minutes.
- While tomatoes simmer, bring a pot of water to boil.
- Add potatoes and a pinch of salt and cook until just tender, about 8 minutes.
- Drain potatoes and add to the tomato mixture.
- Add capers.
- Cover and simmer for five minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375º.
- Pour tomato mixture into an 8×8 glass dish.
- Make four equal sized indentations into the tomatoes and crack an egg into each.
- Top each egg with cracked pepper.
- Bake until whites and yolks are set, about 12-16 minutes.
- I then turned on the broiler for a couple minutes to really make sure the yolks are set. This is optional.
- Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.
