Try this muscle-building baked eggs dish that’s packed with delicious flavors for a weekend treat.
“This is a traditional Basque dish made with lots of bell peppers,” says chef Mike McEnearney, author of Real Food By Mike. “It’s fantastic not just with eggs for breakfast, but also as a side for any meat or fish dish. A nice twist is to add a couple of anchovies to the piperade before it goes in the oven, or serve it with a couple of rashers of streaky bacon. If you can’t find sorrel, use baby spinach and add a squeeze of lemon juice when serving, to replicate the sharp flavour of sorrel.”
Ingredients (serves four)
- 200g brown onions, thinly sliced
- 1tbsp salted capers, rinsed and drained well
- 50g garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 7ozs extra virgin olive oil
- 200g red peppers, cut into strips
- 200g green peppers, cut into strips
- 200g yellow peppers, cut into strips
- 3ozs white wine
- 200g cherry tomatoes
- 1 bunch basil, leaves torn
- 1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Balsamic or red wine vinegar (optional)
- 1 large handful sorrel
- 4 eggs
Method
- To make the piperade, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the onion, capers and garlic and cook until translucent. Add the peppers and wine and cook slowly for five minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook over a low heat for 20-30 minutes to form a thick sauce. Add the herbs, remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and black pepper. If you find the piperade a little sweet, you can add balsamic or red wine vinegar.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Transfer the piperade to a large, heavy-based ovenproof frying pan over medium heat (or divide it between four smaller frying pans for individual portions) and fold through the sorrel.
- Crack in the eggs and bake in the oven until the white is cooked but the yolk is still runny. Serve with toast.
