Recipe: Cheesy Baked Eggs with Ham

Cheesy Baked Eggs with Ham is a pretty quick and easy way to enjoy eggs with much muss or fuss.

I must admit that prior to trying baked eggs… the name sort of turned me off… it conjured up images of those hated soft boiled eggs of my childhood. I absolutely hated them… still do… but I like to think I’m open minded… so I read the directions and thought… hmmm… it’s a little like a fried egg in the oven and a poached egg… and it was!

TIPS

You can use any size baking dish you like… from ramekins to au gratin dishes..
Make sure you butter the dish… the bread will stick if you don’t… which isn’t terrible… you’ll just end up soaking it in the sink when you’re done.

Trim the crust off the bread… and cut the bread to fit your dish… the dish on the picture took about 1 ½ pieces of bread.

I needed to use up some left over ham steak… so I diced it up into really small pieces… you can use sliced deli ham instead.. just chop it up.

I know a lot of people don’t keep chives on hand… we do… we love the light onion flavor… don’t omit them.. they had a touch of flavor to this and blend really well with the cheese. If you must omit it… consider sautéing some shallots to mix with the ham to add flavor.

I use a Swiss Gruyere cheese mixture since Gruyere tends to be so expensive… Sargento makes an Artisan mix that is affordable.

The half and half adds a bit of creaminess to the melted cheese… if you need to substitute.. heavy cream would be a first choice and whole milk a last choice.

Baking time is approximate… adjust it to how you like your eggs….if you like your eggs runny.. bake it less.. the time listed makes them so the whites are cooked and the yolk is slightly runny.

The final step to making this dish turns the heat up to broil… don’t walk away from it.. it will take only about 3 minutes… you want the dish to brown up slightly … it will burn easily if under the broiler too long.

The recipe is for one serving. If making for more than one, use individual serving dishes and place on a baking sheet for easy handling getting into and out of the oven.

Make this for one or for a crowd… it really is easy!






Recipe: Baked Cheesy Eggs with Ham

All you need:

Bread
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup diced ham
½ cup finely shredded Swiss and Gruyere cheese
2 eggs
3 tablespoons half and half
Snipped chives

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a baking dish with butter. Set aside.

Cut the enough bread in the size and shape to cover the bottom of the baking dish.

Over medium heat, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet.

Sauté the bread until lightly browned on both sides. Lay the bread in the bottom of the baking dish.

Put the ham on top of the bread and make two nests to hold the eggs.

Sprinkle half the cheese over the ham and bread.

Break an egg into each nest.

Sprinkle the remainder of the cheese completely over the eggs and ham. Spoon the half and half over the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until eggs are just shy of desired doneness.

Turn the oven up to broil, leaving it on the middle rack.

Broil for 2-3 minutes, watch closely, you only want the cheese to brown slightly.

Remove from the broiler, snip chives over the top and serve.