Eggs in Purgatory

I picked up this month's copy of Bon Appetit while at Fresh Market recently.  There are so many recipes in this issue that I want to try.  Which is sort of funny, because I am more of a Southern Living/Cooking Light type cook.  Bon Appetit's recipes are usually way too fancy and labor intensive for my tastes.  But the "One Dish Dinners" headline really grabbed me.  That and the Irish Soda bread recipe.  And the fact that I was really hungry that day and thus had very little restraint for what was going in the cart.

So last night I tried my first recipe from the magazine:  Eggs in Purgatory.  A nod to both the picky gourmet vegetarian I am raising and my partial Catholic upbringing.

It was really delicious.  So I thought I'd share.


Eggs in Purgatory with Artichoke Hearts, Potatoes and Capers
   (yields 4 servings) 


3 T. EVOO
1.5 c. chopped onions
2 t. chopped fresh thyme
0.5 t. dried crushed red pepper
coarse kosher salt
1 8-10 oz. package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes in juice (preferably fire-roasted)
8 oz. red-skinned or white-skinned potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 T. drained capers
8 large eggs
1/3 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese


Heat EVOO in heavy large skillet over meduim heat.  Add onions, thyme and red pepper.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and saute until onion is tender and golden brown (about 10 minutes).  Add artichokes and garlic; stir one minute.  Stir in diced tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend.


Meanwhile, cook potatoes in small saucepan of boiling water until just tender (about 8 minutes).  Drain.  Add potatoes and capers to tomato-artichoke sauce.  Cover and simmer 5 minutes.  Season to taste with coarse salt and pepper.


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Pour mixture into 13x9x2 inch glass or ceramic baking dish.  Using back of spoon, make 8 evenly spaced indentations in sauce for holding eggs.  Crack 1 egg into each indentation in sauce (some eggs may run together slightly in spots).  Bake until egg whites and yolks are softly set, 12-16 minutes.


Carefully remove baking dish from oven.  Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over and serve.

Before baking

After baking.  Now, let me be clear.  Those eggs are completly cooked with hard centers.  Additionally, this photo was taken before the cheese was sprinkled on the top.

I served this dish with a big bowl of lighly boiled and salted edamame beans.  And it was a really great dinner...for Andrew and I.

For the children, notsomuch...  Alice ate it well but she'll eat anything for a brownie sundae.  The other two bellyached and gagged and cried (yes, both of them).  But we did not give in.  No dinner = no dessert.  And Clara and Jack went to bed hungry. 

Andrew and I are dilligently trying to combat the rampant pickiness that has overtaken our children.  They eat what's for dinner and that's all they're offered.  They all have enough meat on their bones to survive occasional dinner-less nights.  And hopefully, in the end, their pickiness will go away, or at the very least be diminished.

Now, I did draw the line at packing the leftover Eggs in Purgatory into their lunch boxes today, as Andrew wanted to do.  He was not pleased with the show they made at the dinner table.

Because while they have meat, its not all that much.  And I'm a mother.  Watching my children go hungry causes me exquisite suffering.  I just hope Andrew does not find out about the sandwiches I snuck into their bedrooms after lights-out last night.  ;-)