Indian-Style Baked Eggs Florentine


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Indian-Style Baked Eggs Florentine

Eggs Florentine is one of those breakfast classics that have inspired countless variations upon the simple theme of a cooked egg topped with a savory sauce and sitting on a small bed of cooked spinach. Well, count me in for another experiment, and I can honestly say that this Easter Sunday breakfast was not just the best Eggs Florentine I've ever had but probably one of the tastiest breakfasts I've ever made. Best of all, it takes very little time to prepare, especially if you make the lightly spiced but beautifully fragrant creamed spinach that forms the Indian-style base of these eggs Florentine the night before. Even so, the spiced creamed spinach takes only 20 minutes to prepare and cook.

You will need eight 4-ounce ramekins or custard cups to make these baked eggs Florentine, or you can use four larger gratin dishes and divide the same ingredients four ways instead of eight. They are best served right out of the oven, but warn your diners that they are very hot indeed, and a few moments of cooling might spare them a scalded tongue!

Indian-Style Baked Eggs Florentine

Indian-Style Baked Eggs FlorentineIndian-Style Baked Eggs Florentine
Recipe by
Published on March 25, 2008

An Indian-style update on the classic Eggs Florentine with homemade spiced creamed spinach — a simple but stunning and extraordinarily delicious breakfast

Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 17 to 20 minutes

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Ingredients:
  • butter
  • 1 cup spiced creamed spinach
  • 8 large eggs
  • sea salt
  • fresh ground black pepper
  • 4 oz (115 g) sharp old Cheddar, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs
  • cayenne
Instructions:
  • Lightly grease 8 ramekins or custard cups with butter and preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the ramekins on a baking tray.

  • Spoon 2 tablespoons of the spiced creamed spinach in the bottom of each ramekin. Break an egg into a saucer or cup, and slide the egg into a prepared cup. Repeat with each of the remaining eggs, putting one egg into each ramekin. Sprinkle each cup with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper, and slide the baking tray into the oven. Bake for 12 minutes.

  • Remove the tray from the oven and carefully lay slices of the cheddar cheese on top of each egg. Sprinkle the tops with 1/2 tablespoon of bread crumbs and a pinch of cayenne, and return the tray to the oven. Bake for 5 minutes longer, until the egg whites are set, and up to 10 minutes if you prefer the yolks to be set as well. The cheese should be bubbling, and the bread crumbs browned.

  • Very carefully transfer the ramekins to a plate and serve with a fork or spoon.

Makes 8 servings

Indian-Style Baked Eggs Florentine

12 comments:

Peter M said...

Ahh, someone's using up leftovers! The ramekins are great for this kind of baking...easy to clean.

Since you're going Indian, would paneer work here?

Kalai said...

Love the idea of using ramekins here, Lisa! Awesome idea. :)

Neen said...

Yum! They look so pretty and yummy! I also love the fact that you don't just top the whole thing off with cream, which had always turned me off form Eggs Florentine. Following your suggested times, how cooked do the eggs get? Set whites but gooey yolks, and the gooey yumminess in the photos is the cheese?

Lisa Turner said...

Peter, the beauty of this type of recipe is you can experiment with a wide variety of flavours. I think paneer would be amazing in this dish. I'm also planning on making a version using mushrooms in place of the spinach.

Neen, the white part is definitely set and the yolk is a bit soft but not exactly runny either. And yes, that gooey yumminess you see is the cheese!

Lucy said...

You promised. And boy, did you deliver!

Sitting here with breakfast toast and tea ad all I want is a spoonful or two of those eggs. You're a very clever cook, you know.

Lisa Turner said...

Thank you Lucy. Coming from you, that's quite a compliment! I really encourage you to give these a try on a morning when you have some time to play around in the kitchen for a wee bit.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for entering this delicious recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging. I really like the spiced creamed spinach!

test it comm said...

These sound really tasty. A great way to use the spiced creamed spinach in another dish.

Bharathy said...

First time here, Lisa..and I am totally taken aback by this awesome place of yours!!!..WOW!!:)

Love the collection of recipes here..and I see lots of yummy rice dishes too..:)
Love all...esp the photography :)..

Anonymous said...

Ah! how gorgeous they look! Thnx for sharing the recipe!

www.zaiqa.net

Meeta K. Wolff said...

Lisa!!! This is awesome. I recently saw a similar kind of dish on BBC Food but I love your Indian flavors to this far better! You rock!

Kalyn Denny said...

Oh my, this does sound just fabulous! What a perfect breakfast for a special occasion.