turkish eggs

turkish eggs
serves 2

More egg inspiration from a recent trip to Melbourne. This time from the fabulous Cumulus Inc. restaurant. Here the eggs are getting some dressing up, Turkish-style with some ground cumin for spice and lovely fresh mint and goats cheese for fragrance. Will easily pass as a dinner with a green salad on the side.

1 can tomatoes (400g / 14oz)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
4 eggs
small handful fresh goats cheese
2 sprigs mint, leaves picked & finely sliced

1. Heat a medium fry pan on a high heat.

2. Add 4-5 tablespoons good olive oil and tomatoes and their juices and coriander.

3. Simmer, breaking the tomatoes into small chunks for about 5 minutes or until reduced a little. Reduce the heat to medium-low.

4. Make 4 holes in the tomato mixture and crack an egg into each hole. Cover with a lid and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until the egg whites are just set.

5. Remove from the heat and crumble over the goats cheese and the mint. Season.

prepare ahead?

You could reduce the tomato sauce ahead of time and keep in the fridge. Just reheat and add the eggs.

leftover potential

Will keep for a week or so in the fridge but the mint will wilt and it will be difficult to reheat without over cooking the eggs.

variations for fun

spanish eggs – replace the ground corriander with smoked paprika and swap the mint for parsley. Feel free to serve with some jamon to complete the picture.

vegan – make turkish veg instead. Skip the eggs and the cheese and add roast red peppers and roasted eggplant (home made or from the deli) and just simmer in the sauce until hot. A small handful of pinenuts will work instead of the cheese.

italian eggs – add a crushed clove of garlic to the oil and cook for 20 seconds before adding the tomatoes. Skip the ground coriander . Use basil instead of the mint and grated parmesan instead of the goats cheese.

dairy-free – replace the goats cheese with a handful of roasted sliced almonds..

budget – skip the cheese or replace with a less expensive soft cheese like ricotta. And if you don’t have fresh mint in the garden, its not worth buying a whole bunch for.

problem solving guide

too acidic? Drizzle with some more good quality extra virgin olive oil before serving to balance out the tomato acid.

too dry / rubbery – a sign of overcooked eggs. Next time be more careful and remember the eggs will still be cooking from residual heat after you take them out of the pan. So best to remove them before they’re completely ‘set’.

watery – sounds like the sauce wasn’t reduced enough before you added the eggs. Not much can be done now as further cooking will just overcook the eggs. Serve with baby spinach leaves to help soak up the excess sauce.

burning on the bottom – either the temperature is too high or you reduced the tomatoes too much before adding the eggs. Or you forgot to put the cover on when you added the eggs.

eggs not cooking – either increase the temp, or make sure you’re covering with a lid, or dig a deeper hole around the eggs so they are in closer contact with the heat source.

serving suggestions

Great as a breakfast on its own. Or serve as a simple lunch or dinner with a green salad on the side.

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