we made the most charming baked eggs! or "oeufs cocotte" as we say in french!
except that this time, there was no cocotte (or little ramekin), but mini pumpkins instead. and not just any mini pumkins: the cutest! jack be little pumpkins!
we received lots of compliments for this recipe, both for the look and the taste! well, cheese filling is always a good idea, and those pumpkins are so cute! just look a them, all orange and stuffed...!
you prepare them like traditional baked eggs: a bit of crème fraîche, then you bake them in a hot water bath in the oven, until the whites are firm and the yolks just beginning to set.
you can add whatever ingredients you want: herbs, vegetable, fish, meat, spices...
for this recipe we used three different kinds of cheese: comté, goat cheese and blue cheese! seems a lot, but it's not. we put only a very, very small amount of each. we also added some spices for extra flavours, paprika and nutmeg.
we also made a nice and easy side salad, with hazelnuts and blue cheese, and a honey and "moutarde à l'ancienne" dressing.
serving 4:
for the baked eggs:
4 jack be little pumpkins
4 fresh eggs
4 tsp crème fraîche
salt and pepper
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of paprika
cheeses (we used comté, goat cheese and blue cheese)
for the salad:
mesclun (a combination of young salad green leaves. you can replace it by a mix of roquette, lamb's lettuce and baby spinach)
dices of blue cheese
coarsly chopped hazelnuts
for the dressing:
1 tsp honey (liquid)
1tsp moutarde à l'ancienne (whole-grain mustard)
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
pepper
preheat the oven to 170°C (340 F).
wash the pumpkins, and cut off the top. keep the "hats" aside.
bake the pumpkins (without their hats) in the oven for about 15 minutes.
remove from the oven, then scoop out the seeds.
preheat the oven to 200°C (390 F).
add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper inside each pumpkin. then add a tsp of crème fraiche. crack in an egg. cover with very small and thin slices of different cheeses. add a pinch of pepper, nutmeg and paprika.
arrange the pumpkins in a baking dish and pour boiling water around them (water should come 2/3 up the sides of the pumpkins).
bake for 15 minutes without the hats on, then 5 more minutes with the hats on.
prepare the salad:
wash and dry salad leaves. place them in a large bowl with as much blue cheese dices and chopped hazelnuts as you want!
prepare the dessing:
whisk together honey and mustard.
add balsamic vinegar and olive oil to taste. whisk until combined.
season to taste.
just before serving, pour the dressing on the salad.
piece of advice:
in addition to the cheese, you can add some small pieces of oven-baked bacon
add dices of pear or apple in the salad. it's delicious and it will bring some freshness!
