Baked Eggs with Chickpeas & Spinach

Eggs baked in a tomato sauce with chickpeas and spinach

I was searching the web one day for legume-based recipes and came across several Baked Eggs recipes. They sounded reminiscent of Shakshuka, which Steph and I both really enjoy, so we were exited to try it out. I read through several recipes and developed the following recipe, borrowing bits from various recipes.

Yield: 4 – 6 servings
Time: 1 hour

1 400g can chickpeas, drained (~250g)
1 small onion (or 2 shallots), thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 400g can whole, peeled tomatoes
100g baby spinach (see note)
4 eggs
olive oil
salt
ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 180°C

Heat 1-2 tbsp. olive oil in a skillet (~3 liter) over medium-low heat. Add the onion/shallot and garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet and sweat the onion/shallot until soft and translucent (8-10 minutes). Increase heat to medium high and add paprika and cumin and cook until fragrant (~1 minute). Add tomatoes and break them up into fairly small chunks. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Stir in chickpeas and simmer until the mixture thickens a bit, about 5 minutes. Mix in baby spinach and allow it to cook down until leaves are wilted. Check/adjust seasoning.

Family-style preparation: Leave the mixture in the skillet (if oven safe – no plastic handles!) or transfer it to a 2 liter ovenproof casserole dish. Create four to six small depressions in the mixture with a spoon or spatula and crack an egg into each. Bake until eggs are set to your liking; 15-20 minutes for soft, 20-25 minutes for firm.

Individual serving preparation: in ramekins or oven-save bowls (~350-400 ml each), spoon/ladle about 150-200ml of the mixture into each ramekin. For each ramekin, create a small depression in the mixture with the spoon/ladle and crack an egg into it. Bake until eggs are set to your liking; 15-20 minutes for soft, 20-25 minutes for firm.

Chef’s Notes

Baby Spinach substitute

I have found that chopped, frozen spinach works equally well, and is much simpler to stir into the tomato/chickpea mixture, since it doesn’t need to wilt down. Simply defrost and mix in an equal amount of chopped, frozen spinach.

Variations

As I said, there a lot of Baked Eggs recipes out there. Some options include:

  • Spicy – instead of sweet paprika, use spicy ground chilis/chili flakes (e.g. cayenne)
  • Feta – sprinkle crumbled Feta over the mixture before baking

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