Baked Kale and Eggs

Adapted from David Lebovitz, My Paris Kitchen

We love our greens, and fresh farm eggs! This is a flexible recipe that only takes a little time, and brings big satisfying smiles to our Sunday mornings, and keeps us going through the day.

12 oz kale (about 1 bunch), cleaned and coarsely chopped

2 Tbl butter, oil, or lard

2 cloves garlic (or 1 full green garlic bulb)

2 spring onions

4 to 6 farm eggs

Optional: 2 to 4 oz chevre, heavy cream, sliced ham or smoked salmon, tomatoes, sky’s the limit!

Garlic Bread Crumbs: ½ cup dried or fresh bread crumbs, 1 clove garlic, 1 tsp fresh herbs, salt to taste.

  1. Make bread crumbs: melt butter in a skillet, stir in garlic, then crumbs, herbs, and salt. Toast all over medium heat until aromatic & toasty.

  2. Prepare Kale: Strip the kale from its spine, roughly chop, and rinse, leaving the water on the leaves (no need to spin!)

  3. Heat the butter in an oven safe pan, add the wet kale, then garlic, and seasoning (salt, pepper, and/or red pepper flakes). Cover the pan and let steam for a few minutes, just until the kale starts to wilt. Lift the lid and turn the kale over a few times to heat evenly. Assemble the baked eggs! – Pre-Heat Oven to 350°F

  4. Tear the smoked salmon, or ham, or bacon, etc. into smallish pieces and lay them over the kale.

  5. Crack the eggs around the bed of kale, evenly spaced apart (you can make little nests for them to sit in with the salmon or ham!).

  6. Sprinkle the cheese across the top of the eggs and kale, or even drizzle with a little heavy cream or crème fraiche (or both!)

  7. Sprinkle the bread crumbs across the mixture, and bake for 5 to 15 minutes, checking the eggs for the desired amount of gooey yolks (we usually bake for 7 minutes for gooey yolks)

Portion and devour with crusty bread!

Alison Bjerke-Harvey