Greens with baked eggs

Eggs cooked in a bed of veggies - a quick no-brainer kind of meal full of veggie goodness. Endlessly adaptable too.

A favourite one pot meal

Greens with baked eggs: this is a favourite in our house, whenever I need a quick no-brainer meal, or we need to use up some greens (or both). Quick, tasty, full of veggie goodness, and most importantly: endlessly adaptable (more on variations and a template to use at the end of the post).

I first came across the concept of 'baked eggs with greens' in a recipe from Ottolenghi (for his version see here) but as with so many recipes, once you discover the pattern, you soon find that it's a 'thing' all over the web! (Don't believe me? Here are three more versions, just for starters!) Btw, the same recipe pattern but based on tomatoes rather than greens is a Middle Eastern dish called 'shakshuka' - it's possible that all the green versions are inspired by that.)

Whatever version you go for, it is a quick and easy meal, and you only ever need one pot (it doesn't matter what kind).

YOU NEED

for the flavour base: onions, garlic, any other aromatics (chilli, celery, fennel,...)
greens: anything in season: cabbage, kale, chard, spinach,...
for optional extra substance: root veg (potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots...), or pulses (chickpeas, beans, lentils...from a tin or already cooked)
eggs
herbs & spices: whatever you like or have to hand I like cumin, nigella and smoked paprika here, plus handfuls of whatever fresh (or frozen) herbs I have

HOW TO

Finely chop some onion, garlic and chilli.
If using any root veg scrub and slice/dice finely (so they cook quicker).
Wash and shred your greens (remove any tough stems).
Heat some olive oil in a pan, soften the onion/garlic/chilli mix.
Season and add spices
If using, add the roots and sauté on a low/medium heat until almost cooked (If things start sticking to the bottom of the pan add more oil or a few splashes of water)
If using, add the cooked pulses.
Add the shredded greens (and any herbs) and cover, cook for a few minutes until they start to wilt, stirring occasionally.
Make little holes on the bed of veg, and carefully break in the eggs (you want them to cook whole in their little pocket, like a poached egg)
Cover and cook until the eggs are set to your liking.
Sometimes we also crumble in some feta cheese at this stage, which will just start to melt by the time the eggs are cooked. Adding spiced yoghurt is yet another option to jazz it up a bit (and I'm sure there are many more - see recipe links above for more ideas).
Adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and paprika, more herbs, or perhaps a little hot sauce or a squeeze of lemon on the greens.
Serve as is or with crusty bread.

Variations:

Use tomato instead of greens.
Or tomato and greens.
With or without pulses.
Add any other chopped veggies.
With or without cheese on top.
For a vegan version you could use silken tofu instead of eggs.

THE PATTERN:

(= the bare-bone recipe to use as a template whatever your ingredients)

SAUTÉ AN ONION BASE
ADD A VEGGIE LAYER (greens, tomato, pulses and/or roots)
ADD EGGS TO COOK WHOLE NESTED IN THE BASE

Categories: COOK