Pissaladiere Baked Eggs

I love to eat this, and have made a good few versions of it. This is my favourite.

I call it pissaladière because it shares all of the same main components of the famous French dish, although I do add loads of peppers… I suppose it is like a cross between pissaladière, pepperonata and huevos rancheros, the only difference with the former being that it is spicy and cooked on the hob.

In any case, it is very flavoursome and I wanted to share it 🙂

Serves 2.

• olive oil
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 peppers (preferably not green), de-seeded and sliced lengthways, then halved crossways.
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 handful black olives, quartered
• 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained (optional)
• 2 anchovies, chopped
• 1/2 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 large eggs (0r more if you have 2 casserole dishes or 1 biggun!)
• 2 sprigs rosemary
• crusty bread, to serve

1. Heat the oven to 200°c. Chuck the onion, peppers and garlic into a roasting tin with the olive oil, giving everything a good stir to make sure it is all nicely coated. Sprinkle with a little salt if you like, though you will not need much as the anchovies will provide more later. Roast for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veg is soft and starting to brown at the edges. Remove the tin from the oven and stir in the olives and capers. 
2. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish and add the chopped tomatoes. Mix it all together, then make 2 wells and crack the eggs into them. Scatter the anchovies and rosemary sprigs on top, then bake for around 15 minutes, or until the whites are set and the yolks are how you like them. I like to sprinkle the yolks with a little salt and pepper 🙂 Serve with crusty bread. 

 

Seaweed is apparently the only vegetarian alternative for anchovies, if you want that slightly fishy flavour, but I reckon you could use soy sauce, umami paste, porcini mushrooms, or even Marmite! Well, Vegemite… never tried it myself. All you want is that deep savouriness.