Spicy Tomato Baked Eggs

I’m trying to rein in my carnivorous tendencies at the moment and eat less red meat - obviously that wasn’t the case at the weekend where I was almost caveman like in my red meat choices (raw and rare being the order of the day on Saturday).

So with that in mind yesterday afternoon I dreamt up a vaguely Moroccan spicy tomato concoction into which to throw some eggs and bake.

I pulled a lot of other spices and so forth from the shelves and racks including Spanish sweet paprika, Korean red pepper flakes, ras el hanout and more before deciding on the ingredients below. Originally I was going to use fresh tomatoes (hence those in the photo) but then I remembered a tin of Cherry Tomatoes hidden away in the back of the cupboard which I thought would be perfect in this.

It was really rather good. 


Serves 1


1 tbsp olive oil
1 banana shallot, finely chopped (I wanted to use a red onion but I’d run out)
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped (you can discard seeds if you like)
1 Guindilla pepper (the long pickled light green Spanish chilli peppers in jars like this - optional)
60g mushrooms
Tin cherry tomatoes
Freshly ground salt and pepper
½ tsp demerara sugar
1/4 tsp cumin powder
Worcester sauce
Red wine vinegar
2 tsp Belarazu rose harissa (but any harissa is fine)
2 tsp smoked chilli jelly (optional)
Large handful coriander, chopped
2 eggs
Optional: Freshly grated Parmesan, to serve (only about 1 tbsp)

Heat the oil over a medium heat and cook the onion & chillis until the onions are softened and translucent - about 10 minutes.  Turn down the heat if they start to brown.

Add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the cumin and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes more.

Tip in the tomatoes, harissa, chilli jelly, a good splash of red wine vinegar and a couple of large splashes of worcester sauce, season well with salt & pepper and the sugar. Squash the cherry tomatoes down a bit with the back of a wooden spoon and simmer for 20 minutes before stirring in half the coriander (if the tomato mixture appears to be getting too dry splash in a little water).

While it is simmering, preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

Once the sauce is done, pour into an ovenproof dish (I use a small frying pan that I am able to remove the handle from) and make 2 shallows into which you crack an egg each.

Place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the whites are set and the yolks cooked to how you like them.

Sprinkle is a little grated parmesan, if using and scatter with the remaining coriander.  Serve with warm wholemeal pittas or crusty bread.