Baked eggs with smoked ham & chicory
Ingredients
This is deliciously rich and old-fashioned. Be careful not to overcook the egg - there's an optimum point at which it is just set.
50g butter, plus an extra 15g for putting on top of the eggs
1 onion, finely chopped
3 large endives
Juice of 1 lemon
6 medium eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Melt 25g of the butter in a deep-frying pan and cook the onion over a medium/low heat until soft.
Cut the endives in sixths lengthways. Put them into a saucepan of boiling water with the lemon juice. Turn down the heat to simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Drain really well - you don't want excess water in the leaves.
Set the oven to 180°C/fan over 160°C/mark 4 and put 2 baking sheets into it.
Add the endives, the remaining 25g butter and a light grating of nutmeg to the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes. If the mixture is a little watery then turn up the heat for a few minutes to drive the water off.
Pull or cut the ham into shreds and stir it in along with the cream. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into 6 small gratin dishes, curling the endive around the edge. Crack an egg into the centre of each. Dot the eggs with the rest of the butter, season and put the gratin dishes on the baking sheets in the oven. Check the eggs after 12 minutes: the white should be just set and the yolk slightly runny. They may need up to 5 minutes more. Serve immediately.
This article originally appeared on House & Garden UK. Recipe by Diana Henry.
