Shirred Eggs Baked Eggs With Spinach Mushrooms

Baked Eggs (Shirred Eggs)

Baked Eggs can be as simple as cracking eggs into a muffin tin, then popping it in the oven. All good – but, well, kinda humdrum. 🤷🏻‍♀️ These shirred eggs though? They’re cooked on a bed of garlicky mushrooms and spinach. We drizzle the eggs with just a touch of cream and give it all a shower of parmesan before popping in the oven. The cream melds with eggs as they bake, yielding bubbling, custardy, runny-yolks-with-set-whites perfection!

Tasty egg, odd name: What are shirred eggs?

Shirred eggs get their name from the traditional dish in which they are baked, a small gratin dish called a shirrer. Unlike French oeufs en cocotte or coddled eggs, shirred eggs are not baked immersed in a water bath. These days, “shirred eggs” is used to name any eggs baked this way, usually with a bit of butter and cream, and served in the baking dish. There’s endless possibilities for ingredients you can marry with your shirred eggs. Ham, flaked smoked fish, fresh herbs, breadcrumbs, different cheeses, tomato (like Shakshuka), cooked veg like asparagus, capsicum, artichoke … even shaved truffle! 😍 The list goes on – hatch your own shirred eggs creations!

Ingredients in Shirred Baked Eggs

Here’s what you need to make these Shirred Eggs baked on a bed of buttery and garlicky spinach and mushrooms:

Eggs – Fridge-cold, if you’re dead set on runny yolks like I am! Fridge-cold eggs slows down the cooking of the yolks, which set at a lower temperature than the whites. If you use room temperature eggs, you’ll find by the time the whites are set, the yolks aren’t runny any more.Mushrooms – I’ve just used white mushrooms, but anything will work here. If you have access to fresh wild mushrooms, they’ll be even better (*jealous!)Spinach – I’ve used baby spinach here for ease. You can easily switch it out for sliced English spinach, kale, silverbeet leaves (Swiss chard), or anything similar.Garlic, thyme and butter – For cooking the spinach and mushroom bed. Feel free to switch out the thyme for other herbs of choice! Tarragon or rosemary would be lovely, or a pinch of mixed dried herbs.Cream and parmesan – For topping the eggs. The cream protects the egg so it doesn’t dry out in the oven, and the cheese forms a thin and delicious crust. Plus, well, you know. Cream and cheese. Makes everything tastier. 🤷🏻‍♀️

How to make baked eggs

When to serve Baked Eggs

The obvious answer: breakfast and brunch. To serve, sprinkle with a pinch of smoked paprika (optional) or even cayenne if you like it hot (definitely optional!), chives (optional), and with hot crusty bread for dunking (not optional!). When I make it: lunch and dinner. Some people might find one egg a little on the light side, portion-wise, for a breakfast. But with bread, I find it’s enough. And you know I have a hearty appetite! Having said that, if you have a larger ramekin, feel free to double up on the eggs. Just scale up the cream and parmesan, and adjust the bake time as required. Or if you prefer, you can also make Shirred Eggs in one larger baking dish. Now you’re free to scale it up to your heart and tummy’s content! – Nagi x