I’ve saved my favourite recipe for last. The joy of this dish is threefold. It’s cheap, it’s delicious, and you’re guaranteed to have the majority of the ingredients loitering in your pantry from the last time Pak’nSave had a sick deal on canned goods. It’s also a dish of infinite possibilities. Don’t have chickpeas? Literally any other canned legume will be all good. No feta? Use some yogurt. Got some mushrooms / capsicums / cherry tomatoes in varying stages of sogginess lying round? Put them in too. You’ll probably never make the same baked eggs twice, but they’ll always be bloody good. They can be breakfast, hangover brunch, lunch, or an easy throw together fuck-there’s-nothing-in-the-cupboard dinner. Not a week went by that neither me nor my London flat mates pulled this recipe out. In short, these eggs are a lifeline. Grab hold. You’re sussed for life now.
Baked eggs
2 tbsp oil, for frying
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 red chilli, thinly sliced (you can leave this out if you’re spice-averse)
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 can chickpeas (or black beans, lentils, kidney beans—use what you’ve got)
4 big stalks kale, washed, de-stemmed, and roughly chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 cup tomato passata (or another can of chopped tomatoes + two tbsp tomato paste)
4 eggs
150g feta, crumbled
Salt and pepper to taste
Crusty bread and fresh parsley to serve
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Heat the oil in a big pan (one without a plastic handle!) over a medium heat, then fry the onions and garlic until they start to brown. Add the chilli, spices, chickpeas and cook for a couple minutes. Add the kale and cook until the kale begins to wilt. Put in the tomatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Make a few wells in the pan, crack the eggs in, crumble over the feta, and bake in the oven until egg is cooked and feta has started to melt. Serve with fresh parsley and some toast.