This is a keeper!
If you want an easy way to make a healthy meal with eggs and you are tired of the same old way you are making eggs … this is it. Easy and delicious.
What is “Egg En Cocotte”? It is the French term for cooking eggs in cream or butter in a ramekin. You are only limited by your imagination and the number of ramekins you have at your disposal.
A single serve ramekin is about 4 ounces and is perfect for one egg. If you want to have two eggs you will need a 6 or 8 ounce ramekin. In this picture two that are 4 ounces each. Just make sure that whatever dish you use is oven safe.
Now for the fun stuff!
I have made Eggs en Cocotte for decades and have always loved them. They are relatively straight forward. Butter the ramekin, add the ingredients. Add the egg, add the cream. Put in water bath. Bake.
The issue I had was the egg white and the remaining ingredients felt “disjointed”. Well I tried one thing differently and wowsers was it a homerun!
So what did I do differently?
I separated the egg yolk and the white. I mixed the cream and the egg white together. Seriously. It made all the difference.
So here we go.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you are prepping all the ingredients. You will be ready by the time it is pre-heated!
I decided to make two different kinds at the same time. For two people. So I used my 8 ounce ramekins.
Butter your ramekins.
Wilt your veggies. Use the same pan if you so desire. I am a believer in using the same pan to cook most of these items and some at the same time. Less clean up!
I also have bacon already diced and cooked at all times in my refrigerator or freezer ready to use for meals that call for a small amount. See DK Note below to find out how.
Once ingredients are ready, start layering.
Start with the herbed goat cheese. If you don’t like goat cheese … use grated gruyere or your favorite creamy cheese.
Version ONE included wilted spinach, baby bella mushrooms, herb crusted goat cheese and bacon crumbles.
Version TWO included prosciutto, green onion, fresh thyme, red bell pepper, herb crusted goat cheese.
Now for the fun part! The eggs. You need to separate the whites and the yolks. I have found that if I put the yolks in two small bowl by themselves it is easier to gently place them on top.
Add the cream, salt and pepper to the egg whites and stir until well combined.
Put them in the oven!
So depending on what you put into your baked egg will determine your nutritional information.
This may be one of your favorite, quick and easy, low carb “go to” meals.
and … finally … ready to eat!
Delish!
Yes, I broke the yolk when I put it on top because I placed it on the crispy prosciutto. Got to pay attention to the details!
Enjoy with some fresh berries.
Now … what do you want to add to your baked eggs?
- 1 ½ TBL butter
- 4 eggs, separated
- 4 TBL heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz. herbed goat cheese
- 2 TBL fresh baby spinach, wilted
- 2 baby bella mushrooms, sliced and cooked
- 1 tsp. bacon, crumbled
- 2 slices prosciutto
- 1 green onion
- 1 TBL red bell pepper, diced
- ¼ tsp. fresh thyme
- salt & pepper
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. By the time your oven is preheated your remaining ingredients will be ready to layer.
- Butter the ramekins. Set aside.
- Slice your goat cheese into six discs and place 3 in each buttered ramekin.
- Slice mushrooms. Dice red bell pepper. Dice green onion. Remove thyme leaves from the stem.
- Heat large fry pan with olive oil on medium heat. Add mushrooms and spinach in the same pan. Each on the opposite side of the pan. If you feel like adding a little minced garlic to the spinach … go ahead. The spinach may be done first. If so, remove from pan. Add a little more olive oil to that side of the pan if needed. Add the green onions and red bell pepper and cook until slightly done. It will finish in the oven.
- You can use the same pan that all the veggies were in or in another pan will you are cooking veggies, cook two sliced of prosciutto until slightly crisp but not crumbling.
- Now you are ready to assemble the ingredients on top of the goat cheese.
- In one of the ramekins add the spinach, baby bella mushrooms and bacon. In the other ramekin add the prosciutto (standing on edge), green onion, bell pepper and thyme.
- Now you are ready to separate the eggs. I put the yolks in two bowls with 2 yolks each. It’s easier to manage without breaking them. All of the egg whites can be in one bowl. Add the heavy cream, salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate.
- Pour half of the cream mixture into each ramekin. Carefully top the ramekin with the egg yolks.
- Place ramekin in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
- Check your eggs if you are not sure as you don’t want the yolk to overcook.
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Version ONE:
Calories 410 |Fat 36g |Carb 5g |Fiber 1g |Protein 19g
Version TWO:
Calories 451 |Fat 40g |Carb 5g |Fiber 1g |Protein 21g
(This nutritional information is for 1 each of Versions 1&2)
DK NOTE:
When I buy bacon I remove from the package and slice it in quarter inch pieces. Then I put it all into my cast iron skillet and cook until I get it the crispiness that I desire. Drain on paper towels and cool. Then place about 1/3 cup in a container in the refrigerator and the remaining in a freezer. Now I am ready for any recipe with only one mess. If I am cooking for a crowd and want slices not crumbles, I always bake the slices in the oven. It’s fast and no greasy mess!
I do the same thing with my sausage. I cook the entire package and then put some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer ready to use in small amounts.
Now who caught that there was a Version 3?
First clue … avocado and cilantro in the first picture.
Second clue … sausage crumbles on the cutting board.
I just couldn't not make one that had sausage, cilantro and avocado!
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