Weekend Brunch with Spinach-y Eggs

I don’t know how you feel about weekends, but I am of the mind that they are often too short, too rushed and not nearly restorative enough. This is what makes the brunch concept so pleasant. A meal that combines breakfast and lunch and is, by design, meant to be close to effortless, very casual and allows cooks and guests alike to linger, chat, and break bread. It can be as simple as picking up some fresh fruit and cinnamon buns and making a pot of coffee, or something slightly more time consuming, but it seems that more often than not, eggs take pride of place in the brunch buffet. Why? My best guess is because they are fairly easy to work with, can be savoury or sweet (because who would turn away a sweet souffle or a stack of French Toast

Recently I hosted a very small brunch with some girlfriends. It was intended to be a simple affair, so a whole fritattaor quiche seemed like more work than I was interested in doing. So I threw together these spinach filled eggs and baked them with cheese on top. Easy!

Here’s what you need to make this painlessly easy, delicious dish: 2 packages of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 a yellow onion, minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon of olive oil

juice of half a lemon

a pinch of nutmeg

8 whole eggs

1/2 cup milk or cream

1 cup of grated cheese

salt and pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 375

Start by squeezing the spinach dry over a colander. You really do want it as dry as you can get it.

Then begin sauteeing your spinach, onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add the spinach, nutmeg, lemon juice and continue to saute until the mixture is dry and the onions are translucent.

Beat together the eggs and cream (or milk)

Spread the spinach mixture over the bottom of a 10 inch round, 1 inch deep pie plate. You could use a smaller dish, just make sure it is also deeper to accommodate the eggs. Pour the egg mix over the spinach and top with the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the eggs are set and the cheese has melted. Serve immediately or room temperature. Store all leftovers promptly in the fridge for up to 2 days.