ITALIAN VEGETABLE EGGS EN COCOTTE

I am not a breakfast person, I prefer to drink my huge mug of caffelatte but I can see the charms of a late breakfast with savoury foods because if I eat breakfast I prefer a savoury one despite my many years in Italy. Just the idea of eating salt things in the morning makes the hair stand straight up on an Italian, they have very little understanding for it, just like I can't get the idea of eating sweet things the first thing of the day. Maybe it is a matter of our bodies speaking, I am a low blood pressure person so perhaps I need the salt to push the pressure up, who knows. Anyway, these little Italian style eggs en cocotte are not only breakfast food, I can see them on a lunch or a brunch table as well. I am particularly fond of eggs with chili pepper but if you want you can skip it and just go for the broccoli and bell pepper.





ITALIAN VEGETABLE EGGS EN COCOTTE
2 servings

2 eggs
2 tblsp fresh cream
2-3 florets of broccoli, cooked al dente
1/2 small yellow or red bell pepper
fresh chili pepper
salt
extra-virgin olive oil

- Dice the bell pepper finely, chop the chili and divide the broccoli into smaller florets.
- Fry the vegetables in a little oil for a 3-4 minutes. Add salt.
- Butter two small ramekins, put about a 1/4 of the vegetables into them and carefully crack an egg into each of them.
- Carefully spoon the cream into the ramekins, preferably without covering the egg yolk, and top with the rest of the vegetables.
- Put the ramekins into a small oven-proof pan or tray that you have filled with water.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (175°C/350°F) for 7-10 minutes, it depends on how wide the ramekin is and how firm you want the eggs.
- Serve with fried or toasted bread sticks.