Baked Eggs On Vegetables Recipe: Step by Step

The one time I come up with the unusual office lunches for the man is when I am bored out of my mind cooking rice and rotis and pasta, which are staples in my home. On such days, I resort to Pav, rice noodles, baked dishes and the ultimate form of escape - stuffed parathas and theplas. The difference in cooking technique and paraphernalia involved usually jolts me out of my boredom with my usual ingredients.

If the man knew this, he'd probably want me to be bored of my usual cooking bases more often than not. Bad, bad thing.

On one such day, I made baked eggs on vegetables. It came out pretty yummy, according to the man. I don't eat eggs but I take the man's word for it - he is mostly honest. Make this - it's pretty easy - best served hot but the man prefers his warm.

Name: Baked Eggs on Vegetables

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Recipe Source: Improvised from a Sanjeev Kapoor egg recipe

Serves: 2 sensible people or 1 greedy human being

You need:

1 onion, chopped

1 capsicum, chopped

4-5 garlic cloves, smashed

To be blanched:

1 carrot, chopped

A fistful of fresh corn

1 potato, peeled and cubed

10-12 Frensh beans, chopped

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup fresh cream

2 cheeses of your choice, I used Monterey Jack and Colby - you can use cheddar or mozzarella if you like

2-4 eggs

Fresh ground black pepper

Red chilli flakes

Butter

Salt

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Bread crumbs from 2 slices of old bread

A big bunch of fresh basil leaves

Here's how you make it:

In a frying pan, heat some butter. Throw in the onions, garlic, capsicum. Stir fry on high for a minute.

- Meanwhile in a pot of boiling water with a dash of salt, blanch potatoes, beans, carrots and corn for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

- Throw the blanched veggies into the frying pan and mix.

- Take pretty colourful pictures of veggies in frying pan. The world is now a perfect place.

- grate the cheeses. See my new kitchen tool - a grater with a dabba so all the cheese collects neatly inside instead of spreading all over the place, which results in my eating up half of the cheese in an effort to make things look clean.

- Throw the cheeses in. Add the milk and cream.

- Mix. Add some salt, pepper, red chilli flakes. It's up to you how wild you go on the heat. Cover and cook for another 3-4 mins. Keep aside.

- Meanwhile, prep a baking dish. Grease it with some olive oil, then lay on half of the bread crumbs.

- Line with fresh basil leaves - I chopped mine lightly. You can tear yours or lay it down whole. Use half your basil leaves here.

- Pour in the veggies and cream.

- Crack open 2-4 eggs on the veggies. Lightly sprinkle salt on it. Pepper too if you want some.

 - Line the top with more bread crumbs. And basil. Pour on some olive oil. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 7-10 minutes. If you have the Micro, this may take 5-6 mins tops. In the OTG, it's 7-10, with the top heating function on. No fan.

- Serve hot. With a side of crusty bread if you please but in this house, the man's happy to do away with all accessories and just dive in. Stay happy! And make this. It's tantamount to aforementioned happiness.