I’ve always thought ‘œufs cocotte’ or ‘eggs en cocotte’ sounded and looked quite elegant. I suppose it is quite a posh way to serve eggs if you compare it to a simple scrambled or boiled egg… yet they are not extremely complicated to prepare. For my ‘special’ version here I’ve added some seasonal springtime favourites: fresh morel mushrooms and green asparagus, but any mushroom sautéed in butter will do really.
‘Cocotte’ actually means pot, or casserole in French, so the name actually simply means ‘eggs in pots’ (and yes, they do sell tiny tiny pots to use for this dish, but the ramekin will do). In their most basic form, the eggs are cracked in a buttered ramekin with only some salt and pepper. The eggs are then baked for a few minutes in a water bath in the oven until most of the egg whites have just set and the yolk has been heated through, but is still deliciously creamy and runny. At least, that’s how I like them.
To ensure the eggs have a pleasant velvety, pudding-like texture, some cream or crème fraîche can be added, while some other variations might incorporate some type of melty cheese. Since I really wanted to enjoy and highlight the earthy and grassy flavours of my fresh ingredients, I haven’t added any cheese, but feel free to do so. If you want to up the flavour-factor even more, you can add a heartier twist to your eggs by adding some other type of protein such as smoked fish – salmon, mackerel, haddock or trout are all good options – or smoked bacon or ham as well.
Note: Of course, you can shorten the cooking time slightly for even wobblier eggs, or leave them in the oven for a few minutes longer for a more set yolk, but I wouldn’t recommend this method of preparing eggs if you are usually into fully cooked or hard-boiled eggs as over-baking the eggs can leave them rubbery and unpleasant.
Baked Eggs with Morels and Asparagus / Œufs Cocotte aux Morilles et Asperges
- V
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- 2 green asparagus spears
- 40g fresh morel mushrooms (about 3 medium sized in total)
- 20g butter + a little extra to butter the ramekins and the toast
- 2 fresh large eggs or 4 fresh small eggs
- 30ml whipping cream
- Salt
- 2 slices of (sourdough) bread
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- Needed: 2 ovenproof ramekins
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Wash the morels very well in a bowl of water and slice them in quarters. Allow to dry slightly on a piece of kitchen paper.
- Lightly blanche the asparagus, bring a saucepan with water and a pinch of salt to a simmer. Once the water is bubbling, boil asparagus for 2 minutes until slightly tender. Remove the asparagus from the water and allow to cool in a bowl of cold water.
- Cook the mushrooms by melting the butter in a small saucepan or frying pan. Add the morels and season with some salt. Sauté for a few minutes until the mushrooms start to soften and are cooked. Raw morels are slightly poisonous, so make sure you heat them up well.
- Add 30ml of whipping cream to the mushrooms and allow to cream to heat up for 1 minute then remove from heat.
- Assemble: Butter the ramekins and divide the morels and cream mixture over each one. Coarsely chop up the cooked green asparagus and add to the ramekins (toss away a few cm of the woody end). Crack egg(s) into the centre of each of the ramekins. I find it easier to crack an egg into a glass first and then gently pouring it into the ramekins in case of egg shells, or broken yolks. Use 1 egg for small ramekins, or 2 small to medium eggs for slightly wider or deeper ramekins. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Bake: Arrange the ramekins onto a high-rimmed baking dish. Pour hot (doesn’t need to be boiling) water into the dish until about halfway up the sides of ramekins. Gently place the dish with ramekins into the oven. Cooking time depends on how you like your eggs cooked, but also the size of the eggs and ramekins. Aim for a cooking time around 10 minutes when using 1 large egg for runny yolks, or about 15 minutes when using 2 eggs per ramekin. Keep an eye on the eggs while they are in the oven to make sure you do not over bake them.
- Toast the bread: I like to toast the bread in the oven at the same time as the eggs, so I lightly butter the slices of bread and cut them into sticks/soldiers before placing them on a separate baking tray in the oven. Alternatively, you use a toaster and cut and butter the toast afterwards.
- Serve baked eggs with toasted bread sticks immediately.
