Braised Eggs with Leek and Za’atar

November 26, 2018

Braised Eggs with Leek and Za’atar (Photography by Jonathan Lovekin)

Serves 6

This is a quick way to get a very comforting meal on the table in a wonderfully short amount of time. It’s a dish as happily eaten for brunch, with coffee, as it is for a light supper with some crusty white bread and a glass of wine. The leeks and spinach can be made up to 1 day ahead and kept in the fridge, ready for the eggs to be cracked in and braised.

Ingredients

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp olive oil

2 extra-large leeks (or 4 smaller), trimmed and cut into ¼-inch/½ cm slices (6 cups/530g)

Salt and black pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed

½ small preserved lemon, seeds discarded, skin and flesh finely chopped (2½ tbsp)

1¼ cups/300ml vegetable stock

7 oz/200g baby spinach leaves

6 large eggs

3¼ oz/90g feta, broken into ¾-inch/2cm pieces

1 tbsp za’atar

Steps

1. Put the butter and 1 tbsp of the oil into a large sauté pan with a lid and place over medium-high heat. Once the butter starts to foam, add the leeks, ½ tsp of salt, and plenty of pepper. Fry for 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the leeks are soft. Add the cumin, lemon, and vegetable stock and boil rapidly for 4–5 minutes, until most of the stock has evaporated. Fold in the spinach and cook for 1 minute, until wilted, then decrease the heat to medium.

2. Use a large spoon to make 6 indentations in the mixture and break 1 egg into each space. Sprinkle the eggs with a pinch of salt, dot the feta around the eggs, then cover the pan. Simmer for 4–5 minutes, until the egg whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny.

3. Mix the za’atar with the remaining 1 tbsp of oil and brush over the eggs. Serve at once, straight from the pan.

Extracted from Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press) Photography by Jonathan Lovekin.

Find more recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi here.