Breakfast: Baked Stuffed Tomatoes – simple, fast and incredibly delicious!
Breakfast food – it’s never been a highlight of this blog – but my new life demands that breakfast becomes a very important meal of the day.
Growing up, we never ate breakfast – except for a big fry up, usually on the barbecue, every Saturday morning when we lived up in Darwin after we got home from working with my parents. It used to be one of my favourite meals of the week and a great treat for getting up so early on the weekend. As we got older, mum realised quickly that getting us out of bed wasn’t worth the hassell – but we were usually up by the time they got home at 10 or 11am – me with the gas burning and tongs in hand, ready for family breakfast.
But, other than that, breakfast holds no great culinary memories for me. Until now.
I have started experimenting with different things for weekend breakfasts. Weekdays are still a struggle and normally consists of yogurt, maybe some fruit, toast is a staple with cream cheese or peanut butter on top – and lately, I’ve taken a liking to Nutrigrain. Apparently it has a lot of protein, which is what I’m after. It probably has too much sugar – but I can’t be perfect all the time.
But, on weekends – I want to have something different. Eggs on toast is always lovely, served with some tomato on the side. But, this recipe inspired by chef Miguel Maestre, is the best of both egg and tomato.
I have to confess – Miguel’s recipes make my mouth water and well, he’s a little bit cute too!
I know, I’m engaged to be married, but there’s nothing wrong with a little celebrity chef crush, right?
But, despite the lovely accent, most of all, it’s the amazing Spanish-inspired dishes he makes that keep me wanting to watch cooking shows he is in. This recipe is inspired from a guest appearance be made on Justine Schofield’s new TV show Everyday Gourmet. That girl is also a genius! I have to admit, it wasn’t until I was chatting with Matt’s mum recently that I was informed that Justine rose to fame thanks to Masterchef Australia. Here’s a confession – I’ve never watched Masterchef - until this year. I still struggle to be dedicated to it. I’m not really into competition cooking shows – I just like to watch chefs cook, at the end of the day. But, Jamie Oliver’s guest appearance last night – well – it made me cry tears of joy! Tragic, right?
Anyway, onto Miguel’s tomatoes. This is for a single serve and to be honest, I’ve simplified the whole thing – just because there is only so much chopping and ingredient gathering I can do first thing in the morning! He also used an unusual cheese – which I substituted with feta and he also used a Spanish cured meat called jamon. But, I’m trying to be healthy – so I’ve skipped it, making this also vegetarian, except for the little bit of bacon I served on the side. Because of the simplicity of this dish – please use the very best ingredients you can find. I can’t stress that enough!! For Miguel’s original recipe – click here.
Egg stuffed tomatoes with feta
- I large vine ripened tomato
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 free range egg
- the best tomato passata you can find
- 1 tbs of soft feta, crumbled
- toasted sourdough to serve
Pre heat tomato to 200 degrees. Cut the top of the tomato off.
Using a teaspoon, carefully scoop out the tomato flesh, to make room for the egg. Discard the flesh and keep the tomato.
Season the inside of the tomato with salt and pepper before cracking the egg inside the tomato. If it overflows, pour out some of the white, leaving some room at the top to add the passata.
Add a few tablespoons of the passata to fill up the rest of the tomato and to cover the egg. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add the feta cheese and then bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the egg is cooked to your liking. I like it runny, so 20 minutes was plenty.
Serve with some toasted sourdough – perfect for dipping, and some bacon, if you desire!
Hope this inspires you to cook something yummy for breakfast this weekend. I also have some other great breakfast recipes coming up – so stay tuned!