Monday, September 6, 2010

Pancetta and Baked Egg Breakfest

I saw this recipe in the recent Bon Appetit magazine and I had to try it. I don't always make breakfest early in the morning but with Labor Day weekend on the calender, it seemed like the right time.

It was nice and cool this weekend in Milwaukee so I didn't mind cooking inside with a hot oven. I still have a chunk of home-cured pancetta left and I figured it would replace the bacon in the recipe just fine. The prep and the cooking time is about 20 minutes so this early morning meal is great before work or a morning jog.

Ingredients (for one serving):
  • bacon or pancetta
  • baby spinach
  • toasted whole wheat English muffin
  • large egg
  • 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  • salt/pepper
Obviously, you can reconfigure and customize the ingredients for multiple servings. Only important note would be to have 1 tablespoon of cream per dish.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pancetta in pan until crisp. Reserve the pancetta drippings and place pancetta on paper towel. Add spinach to pan and coat with pinch of pepper. Cook for one minute until wilted. Transfer to a strainer. Brush ramekin with reserved pancetta drippings.

Place toasted whole wheat English muffin in bottom of the ramekin. Layer with spinach, then pancetta, and make a well in the center of the muffin. Crack one egg into the well keeping yolk intact. Drizzle one tablespoon of heavy whipping cream over egg and season with salt/pepper.

Bake egg until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 13-15 minutes.

I love the layers of toasted muffin, wilted greens, fatty/crispy pancetta, topped with the creamy egg. Even with the heavy cream, the dish tasted light while I felt fulfilled. One ingredient didn't overpower the other, the wilted spinach stood up well against the salty pancetta. The toasted muffin and baked egg were perfect bookends for the dish. Serve with a warm cup of coffee or since it is a holiday weekend, a Bloody Mary perhaps!


Don't disrespect the Power Bite! Get each ingredient on your spoon for the full experience.

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