Breakfast recipe: Baked Eggs Florentine

A wonderfull breakfast dish which the french call 'Oeufs sur la plat a la Florentine', doesn't that sound excuisite? This is very simple, but elegant breakfast dish which I like on special occasions, maybe with abit of something fizzy. This is a variation on the recipe by Paul Bocuse, 3 Michelin star chef of Lyon.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 400g spinach (coarser stems removed)
• 50g lean ham in fine dice
• 4 tbl spoons of butter
• 6 eggs
• salt, pepper and fresh grated nutmeg

Pick the coarser stems off the spinach leaves and reserve a few for garnish. Cook the spinach in boiling water briefly and refresh under cold water before pressing out all the liquid from them in a colander. Either chop this finely or process in a blender to make a puree. Add most of the butter to a saute pan and cook the spinach puree, ham and seasoning for a minute or two

Preheat oven to 210c, butter 6 shirred egg dishes or cocottes (any shallow and wide crockery will do) and place a layer of the spinach and ham mix on the bottom before breaking the eggs into each dish. Add any more seasoning to taste, add whole spinach leaves and dap with extra butter. Bake in the oven for approximatly 15 minutes, the whites should be fully set but the yolk still runny. Serve with fresh bread or toast. Happy eating!