Summer Zucchini + Tomato Baked Eggs With Feta and Basil
Summer produce is forever my favorite. I came up with this recipe one day when I was craving something with an egg for lunch but wanted to incorporate some of the produce from my most recent Farmer’s Market haul. It’s such an easy recipe but full of flavor from the melted down shallots, garlic and jalapeño (which gives it the perfect kick!).
Pro-tip: toast up some good quality bread (or maybe some sourdough focaccia if you’re feeling wild) and dip it in the jammy egg. Enjoy!
Serves 1
INGREDIENTS
1 medium summer squash or zucchini, grated
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium shallot, thinly sliced
Kosher Salt
1/4 of a small jalapeño, minced
1 large clove of garlic, thinly sliced
3/4 cup sliced tomatoes*
Feta cheese*
1 large egg
Fresh basil to finish*
METHOD
Heat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Grate your squash or zucchini on the thickest side of your grater and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Set aside.
Heat a medium, non-reactive pan* over medium heat and add the olive oil, shallot and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots begin to soften but not brown.
Add the jalapeño and garlic and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, or until the shallots are soft and the garlic is fragrant.
Add the tomatoes and grated squash to the shallot mixture along with another pinch of kosher salt. Cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are soft and the majority of water from the tomatoes has cooked off. Salt the mixture, to taste.
Remove the mixture from the heat. You have two options for the next step: 1) keep the mixture in the pan you cooked it in (if you do this make sure the pan you’re using is oven safe!) or 2) transfer to a smaller oven-safe, non-reactive* crock like I did.
Once the zucchini + tomato mixture is in your vessel of choice for the oven, top it with some feta cheese and create a little well in the center for your egg. Crack the egg into a separate bowl (to make sure no egg shell gets into the dish) and pour over the mixture.
Transfer to the oven and cook for 10 minutes. This will get you a nice runny yolk but feel free to cook longer if you prefer your egg more well done.
Remove from the oven and finish with some flaky sea salt, more feta cheese and fresh basil leaves.
NOTES
Ingredients: You can use whatever tomatoes you have on hand – I usually make this with a combo of sungold and early girl tomatoes, but do you! If feta isn’t your thing, swap out for some Toma (one of my personal favorites), or maybe some torn mozzarella or shaved Parmesan – really whatever you have on hand will work! If you’re dairy-free, skip the cheese all together. Finally, feel free to use any soft herbs you have on hand to finish the dish. If basil isn’t your thing, chives, chervil or parsley would be great on this!
Importance of a Non-Reactive Pan: This is one of the key things we learned at the beginning of culinary school. Any time you’re cooking something acidic (in this case, tomatoes) you want to make sure to cook it in a non-reactive pan (i.e. stainless steel, non-stick, coated aluminum, enameled cast iron, or ceramic). If you cook something acidic in a reactive pan (i.e. cast iron, copper, non-coated aluminum, carbon steel), the pan’s surface will release metal into the food and cause the dish to either taste metallic, or get discolored. I opted for a non-stick pan to cook my zucchini + tomato and then I transferred it to a enameled cast iron crock for the oven.