Spinach and Feta Baked Eggs
The spinach goes in raw and wilts under the eggs, which saves a pan and a step and gives the whites something to sit on.
Baked eggs get made complicated more often than they need to be. There is no sauce here and nothing gets cooked before it goes in the dish.
Raw spinach looks like far too much when it goes in and turns out to be exactly right. It collapses to about a fifth of its volume in the first two minutes of heat.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 5 oz | baby spinach, washed |
| 4 | eggs |
| 3 oz | feta, crumbled |
| 2 tbsp | olive oil |
| 1 | garlic clove, sliced thin |
| 1 pinch | chilli flakes, optional |
| — | black pepper |
Method
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Pile the spinach into an oven dish, toss it with the oil, garlic and chilli, and press it down. It will look like far too much.
- Make four hollows with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each.
- Scatter the feta between the eggs, not on top of them, or the yolks steam instead of setting.
- Bake twelve to fourteen minutes. The whites should be set and the yolks should still move when you shake the dish.
- Black pepper, and eat it out of the dish.
Notes
- Frozen spinach works, thawed and squeezed hard. Do not skip the squeezing — it releases enough water to poach the eggs instead of baking them.
- The dish keeps cooking after it comes out. Two minutes short is the right side to err on.
- Feta is salty enough that no extra salt goes in anywhere.
Questions
Can I do this in a pan on the stove?
Yes, with a lid, over low heat, about eight minutes. The bottom browns more and the tops set less evenly.
My yolks went hard.
Two minutes too long, almost always. Ovens run hot; take it out when the whites have just turned opaque.
What goes with it?
Bread, and nothing else. It is already a whole thing.