Recipe: Jock Zonfrillo’s Baked Italian Eggs Are a Wee Bit Spicy

It’s Sunday morning, the rain is tumbling down, and the moment calls for comfort with a capital C. In this cosy recipe from Jock Zonfrillo’s posthumously published cookbook, Recipes To Remember, the acclaimed chef and Masterchef judge puts an Italian spin on classic baked eggs. Basil and oregano perfume the spicy tomato sauce, while tallegio adds decadence. Go easy on the salt – speck already brings a bunch to this dish.

“There are a million egg dishes out there,” Zonfrillo writes. “But trust me, there’s nothing better than waking up to this one.”

Baked Italian Eggs

Ingredients

160g speck, cut into 1cm-thick lardons
400g can baby Roma tomatoes
1 fresh cayenne chilli, sliced
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
¼ bunch oregano, roughly chopped
2 basil sprigs, roughly chopped
1 thyme sprig, roughly chopped
4 extra-large eggs
40g taleggio, frozen, plus extra, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 165°C and then get cracking on these eggs!

Put the speck in a round ovenproof dish and place in the oven to render slowly while you cook the tomatoes. My ideal dish is 24cm diameter, but you could go slightly smaller or larger if that’s all you have.

Empty the can of tomatoes into a bowl and use your fingers to burst them (an apron will be your friend here) squeezing out their juice.

Pour into a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick and reduced, which will take about 10–15 minutes.

Once the speck is rendered and beginning to caramelise, add the chilli and bake until the chilli is softened and the speck is crispy. The smell now is amazing.

Stir the olive oil into the tomato mixture and season with salt and pepper, then add it to the speck and chilli. Keep in mind that the speck will be salty so don’t overdo the seasoning. Fold through the herbs, reserving a few basil leaves for garnish.

Make four divots in the sauce for the eggs, crack the eggs in and season with a touch of salt. (Alternatively, you can divide the sauce into two cast-iron skillets and add two eggs to each.) Coarsely grate the taleggio and sprinkle it over, then use a spoon to tuck some of the cheese under the sauce.

Bake until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny, probably about 10 minutes, then finish with another light sprinkle of taleggio and a few torn basil leaves. These come up volcanic hot so let them rest for at least 5 minutes before serving up.

This is an edited extract of Recipes To Remember by Jock Zonfrillo, published by Simon & Schuster. RRP $55.

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