Eggs with Peppers & Spinach
Introduction
This is a great supper dish for two or three people (you can squeeze in an extra egg). Serve with crusty bread, and if you like things hot, add a splash of your favourite chilli sauce. Be warned that eggs go from nearly set to firm yolks in the blink of an eye.
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
1 each large red and yellow pepper (bell pepper/capsicum)
2 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup chopped shallot
3 medium vine tomatoes, quartered, or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
½ tsp smoked paprika
½ tsp ground cumin plus extra for the top
8 green olives
2 cups baby spinach leaves, or roughly chopped spinach
Flaky sea salt
3 Tbsp roughly chopped herbs of your choice (basil and parsley, and a little thyme and marjoram, if available)
4 medium (size 6) free-range eggs
½ cup plain unsweetened yoghurt, or to taste
Chilli sauce, optional
Method
1 Cut the peppers in half, remove the cores and seeds, and chop them roughly. Heat the oil in a medium-large frying pan (skillet) over low heat. Add the peppers and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often, until they are tender; lower the heat if they start catching on the pan. Add the shallot and continue cooking for several minutes until the shallots are tender.
2 Push the vegetables to one side of the pan and add the tomatoes, cut side down. Cook for a few minutes, then stir in the paprika, cumin, and olives. Add the spinach, sprinkle with salt, and cook until wilted. Finally, stir in the herbs.
3 Crack the eggs into a shallow dish without breaking the yolks. Make four hollows in the vegetables and carefully drop the eggs into the hollows. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until the egg whites are very nearly cooked. Turn off the heat. Keep the pan covered for an additional minute, until the whites are just cooked. Add dollops of yoghurt and sprinkle with cumin and flaky sea salt. Grind over black pepper to taste and splash with chilli sauce if using. Serve immediately.
