Breakfast Eggs Baked in Peppers
Like most normal human beings, I lack the energy to come up with exciting breakfast recipes first thing in the morning. I used to be one of those annoying chirpy “morning people”, but over a year struggling with chronic fatigue has made those days a distant memory. Nowadays you are more likely to find me burying my head in the covers and praying for another hour in bed.
Porridge and simple scrambled eggs on toast make a regular feature on our meal plan for breakfast, mostly because I cannot face doing much more than that at 6.30am, and they are things my husband makes very well so I can begrudgingly relinquish delegate breakfast duty to him if I am particularly struggling one morning.
But I have recently been playing with the idea of make-ahead breakfasts. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not exactly a bundle of energy at nighttime either! But a couple of simple prep steps to make breakfast easier, healthier and including some veggies are worth a teensy bit of effort, I feel.
I’ve talked before about how adding vegetables to breakfast can be an excellent and simple way of getting your 5- (or even 10-)a-day. But the truth is, prepping vegetables is usually too much faff for us to bother with before the sun is up, so I am trying out the more reasonable and likely scenario of getting the veg done the night before so we can have an excellent, healthy start to the day without needing a kitchen assistant or gallon of coffee just to prop my eyes open while I chop peppers!
This recipe is perfect for this. A tiny bit of prep while you make dinner, and then all you need to do in the morning is crack a couple of eggs and shove it in the oven to cook while you get yourself dressed or have a quick shower or make that all-important cup of coffee.
Plus, it’s tasty. Really tasty. And you feel pretty good about yourself, having had 1 of your 5-a-day by 7.30 in the morning. Which is more than I can say most days of the week!
A filling, healthy, veggie-loaded breakfast that is easy to make and will start your day off the best way possible! A few mins prep the night before makes this very quick and easy to make, and the fun look of the "basket" makes it more appealing to kids as well as adults.
- 2 red bell peppers (or your favourite colour peppers)
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander, parsley or chives, roughly chopped
- handful frozen peas, optional
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs or chopped nuts, optional
- salt & pepper
- sugar free hot sauce, optional
-
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Halve the peppers lengthways and scrape out the seeds and white pith. Rub the pepper halves all over with the olive oil, lay face down on a lined baking tray and roast for 15 mins until slightly softened and a little blistered (you don't want them totally soft or the eggs will just pool out when you crack them in!). I like to do this step the night before and keep the cooked peppers in the fridge in an airtight container until the morning, when I preheat the oven back to 200C/400F/gas 6.
-
Turn the pepper halves face up on a baking tray or pressed ever so slightly into the holes of a muffin tins, then crack an egg into each half. Top with the fresh herbs, peas, breadcrumbs or nuts (if using) and seasoning. Return to the oven for 10 mins, until the whites of the eggs are set but yolks are still runny (you can also do this under the grill/broiler set to medium for about 8-10 mins). Serve warm with hot sauce, if you like. Also yummy with sugar free wholemeal scones (biscuits to American readers) or sourdough toast.
Very creative.