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#CookClub recipe No. 32: Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

 
The original recipe for Eggs Baked in Ham calls for two eggs, but you can see how the ham cup fell apart with the additional egg. Better to use just one.
The original recipe for Eggs Baked in Ham calls for two eggs, but you can see how the ham cup fell apart with the additional egg. Better to use just one.
Published Dec. 18, 2014

I like the idea of the overnight breakfast casserole for Christmas morning, but sometimes that's just too much food for a small group.

And, honestly, leftover egg casserole isn't usually a big draw.

So cue up #CookClub recipe No. 32, Baked Eggs in Ham Cups.

I've liked this recipe since the first time I tested it for the Taste section in 2009. I hope you will give it a try and share your photos and comments on Instagram.

Two eggs sit pretty in the fluttery ham cups, a bit of pesto peeking through white, nestled next to a roasted cherry tomato half. Well, that was what the original recipe called for.

You'll have better luck with just one egg; the liquid from two causes the ham cup to collapse when it's pried from the muffin tin. Use large eggs, not jumbos or extra-larges. That makes a difference. If you want to make two-egg baked cups, use oversized muffin tins.

The egg cups take about 30 minutes to prepare, including baking time. They can be kept warm for about 30 minutes before serving. For an elegant holiday breakfast, serve with sauteed spinach and a fresh fruit salad. Mimosas, too.

I would plan on two baked egg cups per person and wouldn't waste time with homemade pesto (unless I was the type of person who had that in the freezer from my homegrown basil bounty. I am not. )

I'll be eager to see how the #CookClub tinkers.

Join us online

The key to participating in #CookClub online is to remember #CookClub because that's how you'll tag everything. You have three weekends to make the Baked Eggs in Ham Cups and post a photo on Instagram.

Post photos and comments by 6 p.m. Jan. 4. Some of the photos and comments will be printed in the Taste section of the Tampa Bay Times. The #CookClub has been in operation since September 2013 and if you'd like to look at some of our previous recipes and get cooking tips via video, go to tampabay.com/cooking.

Our live weekly Twitter chats will resume on Jan. 8, when we will be looking ahead to healthy trends and sharing our food resolutions. The online community of cooks gathers virtually at 7 p.m. each Thursday

I look forward to welcoming you.

Contact Janet K. Keeler at jkeeler@tampabay.com. Follow @RoadEats.

MODERATE

Baked Eggs in Ham Cups

Unsalted butter, for tins

4 1/16-inch-thick round ham slices, about 5 inches around

2 teaspoons pesto

4 large eggs

8 cubes fresh mozzarella

4 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Butter 4 compartments of a metal muffin tin. (Cups should be at least 2 inches deep.) Fold each ham slice into quarters, insert the point end in a buttered muffin cup, and let it open — it will have a ruffled look. Place 1/2 teaspoon pesto in the bottom of each ham cup, then carefully crack 1 egg into the cup. Tuck 2 mozzarella cubes and two cherry tomato halves into each cup on top of the eggs and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. (Remember that the ham and pesto both lend saltiness to the dish.)

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Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the egg white looks set but the yolk is still a bit runny. Remove the ham cups from the muffin tin and serve on individual plates or lined up on a platter.

Makes 4.

Source: Adapted from Gale Gand's Brunch! (Clarkson Potter, 2009)