Baked Eggs Forentine

Luxuriate after a long workweek with The 99 Cent Chef's luscious Baked Eggs Forentine. Go ahead, you deserve it. It's the most delicious edible bonus, a rich-tasting creamy spinach sauce crowned with a soft cooked egg. The name makes it sound haute, but it's not.

All you do to make the sauce is saute some onion, add the spinach to wilt, then pour in some milk, and finally, thicken with a little flour and dried parmesan. Or, you can substitute the parmesan with any favorite cheese you have on hand, even cream cheese. Just blend it in when the spinach sauce is warmed through.

I added the spinach sauce to a small ceramic ramekin and topped it with an egg. You want to bake it at 375 degrees about 20 minutes, until the whites of the egg have set. If you want the yoke slightly cooked through, then the cooking time will be about 25 minutes total.

It's certainly economical, especially when you take home a meager paycheck. Eggs, spinach, onion, milk and dried parmesan - check. Yeah, they're all cheap and I get the ingredients at my local 99c only Store and Latin grocery store.

I used fresh spinach from the bag. You could use one bunch of fresh spinach, or a small package of defrosted and drained frozen spinach.With a bunch of spinach from the produce section of your local market, just make sure cut off the long stems and wash the leaves.

My Baked Eggs Florentine is a great way to start the weekend, along with a hot cup of coffee and pleasant company.

 Ingredients (2 servings)

• 2 eggs
• 4 cups of spinach leaves - I lightly pressed them into a measuring cup. Okay to use a small package of defrosted frozen spinach, drained. A bag of spinach is easy to use.
• 1/2 cup of milk - any type, 2% or whole milk. Okay to use half and half cream, for a richer sauce.
• 1/4 chopped onion - white or yellow onion.
• 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg - optional. I've made it without and it tastes fine.
• 1 tablespoon of dried parmesan - okay to use any cheese you have on hand. About a 1/4 cup shredded.
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil - for sauteing onion and spinach.
• Black pepper to taste - I find dried parmesan has plenty of salt.
• 2 ceramic ramekins - for baking.

Directions
Add 1/4 of a chopped onion to a medium hot pan with a teaspoon of oil. Saute onion for a couple of minutes until softened.

Add 4 cups of fresh spinach to sauteed onion and cook and stir until wilted. The spinach will quickly shrink and soften after a couple of minutes.

Sprinkle on a teaspoon of flour and mix well. Pour in half cup of milk or cream. Heated through for a couple of minutes then sprinkle on dried parmesan.

Finally add 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg (optional) and a little black pepper to taste.

Get the oven heating to 375 degrees. Add spinach sauce to the ramekins. I fill them no more than half way, as the sauce will rise and bubble. Top each ramekin with an egg. You can sprinkle on a little salt and pepper if you want. It's a good idea to put a wide pan underneath the ramekins, in case some of the spinach sauce overflows.

I guess this is the trickiest part is: how well done do you like your egg? I like my egg yokes runny so for a 375 degree oven it takes about 20 minutes. For a yoke that is still just barely soft, then the time will be closer to 25 minutes.

You will know by checking that the eggs white is cooked solid. And if the yoke has a little give when pressed with your fingertip.

Of course, be careful when you are handling an oven-hot ceramic ramekin.

You might want to wait a minute for cooling, when serving right out of the oven. The spinach sauce will be hot like the ramekin, so eat carefully and enjoy. For serving to kids, then allow it all to cool down longer.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits - VIDEO

My shortcut spin on this Italian pasta classic will have you digging into a steaming plateful in 10 minutes. And my outre entree will never be taught in culinary colleges -- you can only learn it in The 99 Cent Chef's kitchen of hard knocks!

What does one do with the rest of that package of Bacon Bits you sprinkled over your Cobb salad? You can add the salad topping to this 99 cent creative take on Spaghetti alla Carbonara. Watch my new cooking video for the simple step-by-step directions. It doesn't come cheaper than this; and my new pièce de résistance is outrageous enough to fit into my blog of recipes perfectly!

Typical Carbonara main ingredients are: eggs, pasta, black pepper, grated parmesan cheese and Italian bacon (pancetta or guanciale); kind of like an Italian-style breakfast entree with spaghetti.

I normally use a couple slices of browned and crumbled bacon because it's convenient, and bacon fat enriches any pasta dish. However, those are a lot of calories, and real Bacon Bits are already cooked, so most of the fat is rendered out, thus making my Carbonara lighter.

I've been buying my Bacon Bits, pasta and eggs at my local 99c Only Stores lately. These budget items come cheaply at most any regular market. I can get 2 servings out of one 2.8 ounce package of Bacon Bits. I've been eying Imitation Bacon Bits but have not had the guts to use them yet - The 99 Cent Chef has standards, too!

This is a rich tasting dish when you add a raw egg to hot pasta. The trick is to assemble it all in one pan and bring it right to the table before the egg scrambles.

You pour a couple of tablespoons of hot pasta water into the spaghetti with Bacon Bits, and finish it all off, add a beaten raw egg, black pepper and parmesan blend. The egg mixture thickens into a decadent sauce, coating the spaghetti, studded with crunchy bacon pieces. *If you are worried about using raw egg, I have an alternative method at the end of this post.

This is a versatile dish with many variations. I have added sauteed garlic, red or yellow bell pepper, and onion. Frozen green peas add color and extra flavor -- they thaw out when you add the hot pasta water.

If you have an Italian deli nearby, or a well-stocked meat market, you should try Italian pancetta at least once; you only need a couple of slices for this dish. It cooks like bacon, but it's dryer, leaner, with flavorful curing spices.

So, check out my latest recipe video and get cooking! It is a simple and delicious dish.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara with Bacon Bits - Video

Play it here. The video runs 4 minutes 31 seconds.

Ingredients (one serving)  

• 1/3 package of spaghetti - cook per package directions. I usually shave off a couple of minutes cooking time for pasta al dente.

• 1/2 package of Bacon Bits - real bacon, not imitation. Okay to use a couple slices of cooked bacon.
• 1/2 tsp. of black pepper - fresh ground if you have it. 
• 1 egg per serving - for a richer sauce use 2 egg yokes.
• 4 tablespoons of grated parmesan - I used real parmesan from the jar, but if you have a block of parmesan to shave, all the better.
• Water for boiling pasta - reserve 1/4 cup of hot pasta water for sauce.

Directions
Bring one pot of water to boil for pasta. In a small bowl, mix one raw egg with 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan, and about one teaspoon of black pepper. Whisk together until well blended. Set aside until final assembly.

Add pasta to boiling and salted water. Cook pasta while preparing the rest of the carbonara -- I usually shave off a couple of minutes of package directions boiling time for pasta al dente.

(If you like real big pieces of bacon, then saute up a couple slices instead of bacon bits. You can drain off the grease, or leave a tablespoon or two for flavor.)

 
In a large pan over low/medium heat add bacon bits to heat through. When spaghetti is done drain (reserving some of the pasta water) and add to bacon bits.

Add 2 tablespoons of hot pasta water to spaghetti and bacon bits.

Finally, pour in egg and parmesan mixture. Mix well and allow to heat through for about 30 seconds - careful not to make scrambled eggs. The egg mixture will thicken with the addition of hot pasta water.

It is ready to eat with a final tablespoon sprinkle (or more) of grated parmesan per serving. (If you are using fresh shaved parmesan, then add it as a topping when ready to serve.)

For 2 servings, just double everything - maybe go with a whole package of spaghetti and one whole egg and two egg yokes, for a richer sauce?

* If you are wary of raw egg, it's okay to drop a separated whole egg yoke into boiling water for 30 seconds (or longer.) When pasta is done and parmesan is added, finish dish by adding one, or two, poached egg yokes on top.

99 Thanks to my friend Pete for the camerawork. Be sure to check out his outrageous videos by clicking here; and his funny sports blog is just a click away, here.

Click here to view or embed from YouTube.