Recipe of the Week: Baked Eggs and Tomatoes

sometimes i have a craving for eggs.  not often, but sometimes, and my new favorite egg complement is tomatoes.

this is a great dish to make with leftovers from whatever tomato sauce dish you made during the week (it works great with an italian tomato sauce or a moroccan sauce and most likely whatever tomato spice blend you prefer).  when mindy and i canned our tomatoes this summer we put them into pretty large 24oz jars.  this is way too much for us to eat for dinner and we always have a lot of leftovers.  so i'm always looking for ways to use the leftover sauce.  here's a great recipe for breakfast, lunch or dinner:

baked eggs and tomatoes

ingredients
about 15-16 oz stewed tomatoes
some tomato paste to thicken the sauce a bit
wine (doesn't matter red or white)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, to taste
a good pinch of oregano
2 eggs
parmesan cheese
asiago cheese

directions
for sauce:
heat olive oil in a sauce pan, do not allow it to smoke.
fry the garlic until browned and fragrant.
deglaze the pan with a splash of wine.
add the strained stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and oregano.  bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for at least 20 minutes (i also like to add a small chunk of parm to the simmering sauce).
scoop sauce into each baking dish.

crack an egg onto the surface of the tomato sauce.  

pop it in the oven at 350 for about 10 minutes.  

the egg should be mostly fully cooked at the this point.  

once the top of the egg has begun to turn white you can add the cheese.

pop it back in the oven to melt the cheese (about another 2 minutes).  

it is likely that the extra 2 minutes to melt the cheese will overcook your egg.  if you have a torch, this would work best for crusting the cheese without over cooking the egg.  or maybe just skip the cheese all together.  the dish is certainly best when the creaminess of the yolk mixes into the tomatoes.

serve with a side of crusty bread.