Baked Eggs
This simple, easy recipe for baked eggs in a delicious tomato sauce with butter beans and feta cheese is a fantastic option for a quick vegetarian lunch or brunch with friends, especially when cooking on a budget.
From the book
Eat Well For Less
80 delicious recipes for cooking on a budget
All the recipes from the TV series
Easy recipes for classic family favourites
Introduction
Eggs go with many things, and tomatoes and spices are a great combination here with the beans and eggs – a fairly substantial vegetarian lunch.
Ingredients
| 1 tbsp | oil |
| 2 | onions, chopped |
| 1 | chilli, finely chopped |
| 2 | garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated |
| 1 tsp | caster sugar |
| 2 tsp | smoked paprika |
| 2 tsp | dried basil |
| 2 x 400g tins | chopped tomatoes |
| 75g | sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped |
| 400g tin | butter beans, drained |
| 5 | eggs |
| 200g | feta, roughly chopped |
| Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste | |
| Part-baked baguettes, to serve |
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
2. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan until hot, add the oil, onions, chilli and garlic and cook for a few minutes until just softened.
3. Add the caster sugar, paprika and basil, stir through then add both the tinned and sundried tomatoes and the butter beans. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for about 8–10 minutes until just thickened – if it simmers too rapidly it might dry out, if so you will need to add a splash of water.
4. Season with salt and black pepper and stir well.
5. Make 5 small indents in the mixture then crack an egg into each well.
6. Scatter the feta over the top of the whole dish and place in the oven for 8–12 minutes – if you like a runny egg, just cook for 8 minutes, otherwise 12 minutes for a firm egg. Place the baguettes in the oven at the same time to bake.
7. Divide among 5 bowls, making sure there is an egg in each, and serve with the baguettes.
Tips: You can adapt this recipe by using any combination of your favourite ingredients – chorizo and halloumi, garlic mushrooms and Parmesan, chilli and olives, etc. – whatever you have in your cupboards
If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, make the sauce in a pan then tip it into a ceramic baking dish or casserole before adding the eggs and baking.
