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.

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Beef & Pea Tagine

I do love tagines: not least of all as I love the fact that you chuck it all in, forget about it and come back to something deliciously fragrant and warming. It’s just a shame that I don’t have my tagine at the moment (as naturally it is still in storage somewhere or other) but a cast iron lidded casserole can work just as well.

I’ve used culinary Argan oil here as I picked some up (as well as saffron) on our trip earlier last year to Marrakech but feel free to use olive oil. And on the subject of saffron, a tip I read somewhere on the interweb was to carefully warm it up in a dry frying pan over a fairly low heat before crumbling it with your fingers. Apparently this method will help to release the best fragrance and flavour.

To be honest you could use any veg you wanted - or meat for that matter. I’d actually wanted to get sweet potatoes but the rubbish little Sainsbury near work didn’t have any so normal spuds it had to be. I’d love to try fresh artichoke and peas as although it would undoubtedly be a bit of a faff I bet it would be luscious.


Beef & Pea Tagine
Serves 3-4

1 tbsp Argan oil
400g stewing beef, cut into 1.5 in chunks
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
20g knob ginger, finely shredded
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp ground coriander
¾ tsp cumin
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ras el hanout
¼ tsp saffron threads, lightly toasted & crumbled
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks
Peel of ½ orange
200g peas
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1½ tbsp flaked almonds, toasted
handful of coriander leaves, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Pour a good splash of oil into a heavy based casserole dish, heat it then add the beef and brown on all sides.

Add the onion, ginger and garlic to the meat (add a little more oil if you need to) and cook for 10 minutes or so until the onion is softened then stir in the spices (bar the saffron).

Cook for about 30 seconds before chucking the potatoes, orange peel, and tomatoes into the pot.

Season well then pour over enough water to just cover everything, giving it a gentle stir before bringing to the boil.

Take off the heat, cover with a lid and pop in the oven.

After about 1½ hours both the meat and potatoes should be tender so add the peas and saffron (and top up the water if necessary) and cook for 30 minutes longer.

Double check seasoning and adjust carefully as necessary. The amount of sauce at this point should be fine but again, if necessary, reduce the liquids until a rich sauce has formed.

Serve with steamed couscous with the almonds and chopped coriander sprinkled over.

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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 or 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 all manner of spices and so forth from the shelves and racks including Spanish sweet paprika, Korean red pepper flakes, ras el hanout and more before settling on those 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.

Moroccan-esque Baked Eggs
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, chopped
Tin cherry tomatoes
Freshly ground salt and pepper
½ tsp demerara sugar
¼ tsp cumin powder
Worcester sauce
Red wine vinegar
2 tsp Belazu rose harissa (but any harissa is fine)
2 tsp Belazu 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 over a little grated parmesan, if using, and scatter with the remaining coriander.  Serve with warm wholemeal pittas or crusty bread.

Read More »