Mediterranean Eggs

Is it too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year?! I took a bit of a break from the blog for a few weeks which was great as now I’m refreshed and have a load of ideas for posts.

Anyone who is a regular reader of the blog will know how much I love a nice leisurely weekend breakfast and it has been far too long since I posted a recipe for one. For me the combination of eggs and tomatoes is always a winner, throw in a bit of chilli and I’m in heaven! This recipe is based on a dish I had for brunch on a trip to Lisbon last year. We visited Kaffeehaus a couple of times while there and they do a great Sunday brunch. Very handy as a lot of places are closed in Lisbon on a Sunday. There is no spice in this but there is plenty of flavour. It was called Mediterranean Eggs on their menu so far be it for me to rename it.

The recipe is very adaptable. You could add a chilli kick if you like, use feta instead of parmesan or add a bit of bacon or chorizo if you want some meat. If you don’t like pesto, leave it out and add some chopped chives and a little extra parmesan to the eggs instead.

I originally made this with everything in the pot in one go, this resulted in the eggs turning a very unattractive shade of brown. Therefore I heat the tomatoes separately and dot the pesto on top after but if you don’t mind the appearance, chuck it all in together with the eggs.

Again if this dish needs to be vegetarian find an alternative for the parmesan and make sure the pesto you use is suitable.

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients:

• Butter
• 2 tomatoes
• 5 eggs
• Salt and pepper
• A handful of spinach leaves
• 10g of freshly grated Parmesan plus more to garnish
• 20g of lightly toasted pine nuts
• 4 tsp of good quality basil pesto

 

Method:

• Heat a non stick pan over a medium heat and melt a small knob of butter. Halve your tomatoes and scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut the flesh into small pieces. Add to the butter and cook until just slightly softened. Remove the tomatoes from the pan and set aside.
• While they are cooking, heat a dry non stick pan over a medium heat and toast the pine nuts until golden. Set aside.
• Wipe out the pan that you cooked the tomatoes in and melt another knob of butter in it. Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk them gently with a little salt and a good grinding of black pepper. The parmesan and pesto can be quite salty so you don’t want to overdo it.
• Pour the eggs into the pan and add the spinach and parmesan. Use a spatula to constantly stir the eggs and when they are almost done to your liking, remove from the heat as the eggs will continue to cook. Add the tomatoes into the eggs and stir to combine.
• Divide the eggs between two plates and top with the pesto, pine nuts, a little extra parmesan and some more black pepper. Serve immediately with some toast if you like.