Eggs Baked in Tomatoes

I enjoy baked egg dishes.  They’re less  fatty than fried eggs and easier to make than poached eggs.  My husband enjoys them too, especially if the eggs are cooked in some sort of little cup.  I’ve made them in muffin tins lined with toast or with deli meat.  Last week, I baked eggs in hollowed out tomatoes.

In many ways, a tomato is a perfect vessel for a baked egg.  It’s not fatty or overly salty, as some deli meats can be, and it doesn’t get soggy.  The bright acidity of the tomato contrasts nicely with the egg.

I usually cook just one baked egg in tomato for each person but, if you’re serving someone with a larger appetite, you might want to cook more.

There’s really not a recipe for this.  You need only tomatoes, eggs, and seasoning.

Begin by cutting the tops off each tomato; kind of like making the lid on a jack-o-lantern.  Hollow out the tomatoes.  (A grapefruit spoon works well for this.) 

Save the insides of the tomatoes for another dish.  I added mine to my soup stock.

Salt the insides of the hollowed out tomatoes and then turn them upside down on a piece of paper towel to drain.  Leave them for at least an hour.

Once the tomatoes have drained, cut a little piece off of the bottom of each one so that the tomatoes will sit flat, without wobbling. 

Put the tomatoes on a flat pan, lined with parchment paper.  (This will make your clean up so much easier!) Crack an egg into each tomato.  Season the eggs.

I used just some freshly ground black pepper because there’s already salt inside the tomatoes.  You can add whatever suits your fancy:  hot sauce, herbs…

Bake the eggs in a 350˚F oven until they’re set the way you want them.  I like the whites to be firm, and the yolks soft.  Serve the eggs as soon as you take them from the oven.

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This post is linked to the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop.