Eggs en cocotte with bacon and sausage meat ragu
Originally intended to be a fusion of shakshuka and eggs en cocotte, I decided in the end that I wanted meat for breakfast. Served with crusty bread, this baked meat and egg dish makes a hefty breakfast.
Servings 3 people
Ingredients
Ragu
- 300 grams sausages (10.5 oz) casings discarded
- 200 grams belly bacon (7 oz) thinly sliced
- 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- salt
- pepper
- 2 pinches ground oregano
- sugar (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can tomatoes (400 grams / 14 oz)
Eggs and topping
- 1 ½ teaspoons softened butter divided
- 3 eggs
- grated cheese as much as you like
- fresh greens to garnish
Instructions
Cook the ragu
- Place a cold pan on the stove and spread the sausage meat and bacon in it. With the heat set on medium-low, cook the meats together until you see a generous amount of rendered fat.
- Add the onion and garlic, oregano, a few pinches of salt and pepper (and, optionally, a bit of sugar), and cook until the onion pieces are translucent.
- Add the canned tomatoes and bay leaves and cook, stirring, until simmering.
- Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the liquid has reduced by half.
- Taste, adjust the seasonings if needed, and set aside.
Assemble the dish
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Fill a kettle with water and heat.
- Drop half a teaspoon of butter into each of three single-serve baking bowls and spread to coat the bottom and sides.
- Spoon the ragu into the bowls until half full.
- Create grooves (indentations) at the center of the ragu by pushing the meat to the edges using a teaspoon.
- Slide an egg into the groove. Cover the egg with grated cheese.
Bake the dish
- Place the bowls in a baking dish then pour hot water into the dish (be careful not to let any water into the bowls) until the lower half of the bowls are surbmerged.
- Bake the ragu and eggs for 20 minutes or just until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still jiggly.
Serve
- Garnish the sausage meat ragu eggs en cocotte with fresh greens.
- Best with crusty bread.
