Spicy baked eggs with melba toast

Eggs are plentiful in our kitchen, mainly due to the amount of baking that Helen does.  We also enjoy some of the finer things in life like a full Ulster fry with fried eggs and off course the odd omelette or two 🙂  Fresh from creating a vibrant chorizo Spanish omelette, we decided to once again get creative with eggs, this time letting the egg be the star of the show.  We go from Spanish cuisine to Mexican as we create a spicy baked egg.  Check out our recipe below, and do leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Ingredients:

To make the tomato sauce:

• Tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 Clove garlic, crushed
• Handful fresh basil, chopped
• Pinch of chilli flakes

Additional ingredients:

• 4 Eggs
• 1 Slice ham
• Grated cheese (small handful per person)
• Pinch chilli flakes per person
• Seasoning

Cooking and preparation time 20 – 25 minutes

Serves 4 people

1. Prepare the melba toast:

Pre-heat your grill to a medium temperature before starting to make your toast.  To make melba toast you simply toast the bread in a toaster until lightly golden.  Remove the toast carefully from the toaster and gently slice through the centre of the bread, creating two thin layers.  Set the layers cut side down on a chopping board and gently rub the slice over the board for a few seconds to remove any excess bread.  This should leave you with a thin, smooth layer, ready to be finished under the grill.  Place under the grill cut side up, and cook until golden for 1-2 minutes.  Set this aside until your eggs are baked.

2. Make your spicy tomato sauce:

Before beginning your sauce, be sure to pre-heat your oven to 180C until you are ready to start baking the eggs.  To begin, you need to create the spicy sauce.  Take a tin of chopped tomatoes and pour into a bowl.  To this add your garlic, basil and chilli flakes, and mix through.  You may find that you have more sauce than is required.  If this is the case, simply cover the remaining sauce and refrigerate to use with pasta.

3. Spoon spicy tomato mix into a ramekin:

Take 4 ramekins and gently grease them using butter.  If you don’t have a ramekin, a large bowl will do.  You may need to add in a double serving and divide when finished.  Also ensure that the bowl is heatproof.  Spoon your spicy tomato sauce mix into the bottom of the bowl so that the base is covered.

4. Add your cheese, egg and ham:

To the spiced tomato mix you add slices of ham and grated cheese, before adding the egg.  Try to get the egg yolk central as it will make the final result look much better.  Add some more cheese to this and finally add some chilli flakes for that final chilli kick.  You can add the grated cheese according to your own taste, and if you are not a fan of spicy food, go easy on the chilli flakes or use ground black pepper instead.

5. Put the baked egg into the oven:

Season the mix and add the ramekins to the centre of your pre-heated oven.  Cook the eggs for around 10-12 minutes until thoroughly cooked through.  If you prefer a runny yolk, cook for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from the oven carefully as the ramekins will be very warm.  Place the ramekin on to a plate and serve with the melba toast.

We created a short video on our Instagram channel to take you through the steps needed to make your very own spicy baked egg.  You can view this below.  For more quick Pikalily recipe videos be sure to visit the Pikalily Instagram page.

Eggs are a popular option for breakfast and can be used in many ways.  How do you like yours?  Let us know over on the Pikalily Facebook and Twitter pages.  You can also check out some of our other egg inspired dishes here.