Baked Eggs in Chunky Tomato Sauce (Vegetarian)

If you are a lover of veggies, you have come to the right place.

Onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic... cook them up, drop eggs in the mixture, bake, and top with goat cheese and cilantro.  Ta-da!  It is really that simple, and quite amazing actually.  This is a recipe I would have never thought of myself, which makes me appreciate all of those cooks in the food magazine kitchens all the more.

 Let me warn you, however -- your house will smell like onion and bell pepper long after the food is gone.  As I was driving to work I kept smelling this oniony-smell so I rolled down the window to see if it was coming from outside, and then I realized that it was I that smelled like onion.  Or rather, my clothes did.  Clothes that were tucked away in my closet while I was cooking.  Curse of a small apartment, I guess.  At least it wasn't the smell of fish, right?

This brilliant recipe comes from the January/February 2012 issue of Everyday Food by Martha Stewart.

• Prep Time 20 minutes
• Total Time 45 minutes
• Yield Serves 4

 

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange), stemmed, seeded, and diced small
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 3 garlic cloves, minced  (I did six.  We love garlic.)
• 1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 2 1/2 ounces baby spinach (2 1/2 cups)
• Red-pepper flakes (optional)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 8 large eggs
• 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (1/2 cup)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium. Add bell peppers and onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and cook 3 minutes. Stir in spinach and pinch of red-pepper flakes, if using. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Transfer sauce to four 14-ounce gratin dishes or a 2-quart shallow baking dish. With the back of a large spoon, make 4 wells in sauce and crack 2 eggs into each. Bake until whites are set but yolks are still runny, about 25 minutes, rotating dishes halfway through. To serve, top with goat cheese and cilantro.

Cost: $8.67                    Cost Per Serving (4): $2.17