cauliflower gouda layered baked eggs with tomato and spinach

I first discovered and fell in love with baked eggs last winter, and during those cold months I visited cafe after cafe on the weekends, sampling the myriad of baked egg offerings out there for breakfast and brunch. In the midst of this intense affair, I vowed to make my own baked eggs one day, but it was only recently that this promise was finally consummated. Was it good? You betcha!

I sigh in bliss, for thou art my lovely baked eggs.

A quick aside on how this baked egg recipe came about. A friend introduced me to the delicious gouda some years ago, and it's been one of my favourite cheeses since then. I really wanted to incorporate it into my baked eggs, so I designed a recipe doing just that. What I like about this recipe is that everything is cooked using just the ramekins and the oven, a tribute to my laziness. No separate sautéing of ingredients in pans, no boiling in pots, etcetera, meaning less dishes to wash!

oh my gouda! I worship you with my tummy.

The following are the ingredients I used. The amounts I leave up to you. You might prefer more of one ingredient than another, so create as you wish!

amazing baked eggs layered with cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, gouda, and spinach

Cauliflower, pinch off small florets to use
Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Gouda cheese, sliced (I used a mild Dutch gouda. You may substitute with other melting cheese.)
Garlic, finely chopped or crushed
Spinach leaves
Eggs
Olive oil
Salt and spices (I used Spanish hot smoked paprika)

- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. (I use fan-forced.)

- Create a mixture with extra virgin olive oil, spices and salt.

- Lightly toss the cauliflower florets and cherry tomatoes in the spiced olive oil mixture. Reserve the remaining olive oil mixture for drizzling later.

- Fill ramekins (or small baking dish) with the cauliflower and tomatoes - I filled mine up close to half-full. Place ramekins in oven for approximately 15 minutes or until cauliflower florets are just slightly charred at the tips.

- Remove from oven, and layer with sliced gouda cheese. Then layer with spinach leaves. Try to tuck them so they don't flop around. Otherwise, you may choose to weigh them down a little with more cheese. I didn't, but it's hard to go wrong with more cheese.

- Crack the eggs gently over the spinach leaves. For the small ramekins I used one egg, for the medium ones I used two. At this point I drizzled over some of the remaining spiced olive oil mixture but you can also do that just before serving. If you love the fruity taste of extra virgin olive oil, do this later.

- Bake until eggs are cooked to your liking. For runny eggs take them out at 10 minutes or even earlier. If you prefer them fully cooked, it may take up to 15 minutes. Mine was somewhere in between – cooked on the outermost part, with a bit of liquid gold right in the centre.

- Now they are ready to eat! If you want, you can top it with more fresh spinach and cherry tomatoes, herbs, and lemon juice to lighten it up.

a simple step-by-step picture guide!

step 1: toss cauliflower and tomato in seasonings, bake in oven.

step 2: retrieve roasted cauliflower and tomato from oven.

step 3: layer with cheese.

step 4: layer with spinach leaves.

step 5: crack eggs gently over the spinach leaves.

step 6: season further (if you like - or wait to do it just before serving), put back into the oven.

Notes:
The ramekins and its contents will be very hot after you take them out from the oven, be careful! Also, remember that the eggs will continue to cook in the residual heat of the dish.
Some ovens have their little quirks. I’m still getting acquainted to the one I use. My times are an estimate so you might need to experiment a little to get your baked eggs just the way you like.

For a first attempt, I was delighted with how well this turned out! Though I give props to my gouda, I wouldn't say there was a singular element that was the star of this dish - the ingredients worked as a team, the layers all coming together to a scrumptious final product. I had my baked eggs with a nice cold glass of fruit juice - a suitably refreshing complement to this warm, comforting dish. What a great start to the weekend!

the final and crucial step for baked eggs: eating them.