Eggs Cooked in Tomato Sauce and Liebster Award

This simple combination of runny eggs in a fresh herbed tomato sauce tastes fantastic when eaten with plenty of hot crusty bread (or in my case, I used garlic bread made out of Turkish pide). I added some diced ham that was leftover from Christmas lunch, just to make it a bit more substantial as I made this for our dinner. You can also use sausage meat (just remove the meat from the casings), chorizo, bacon or just leave them out entirely for a lighter meal. I used canned diced tomatoes for this dish, but you can use fresh tomatoes too if you like (just peel them before using). This dish is so incredibly versatile and easy to prepare, it's perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

(Check out my other delicious recipe for Breakfast Tagine which uses lamb instead, but is also topped with runny eggs and served with toasted bread)

Eggs Cooked in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup diced ham, bacon or sausage meat (optional)
400g (14 oz) canned diced tomatoes
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp chilli flakes
Salt and black pepper
A handful of basil leaves, roughly torn
6-8 eggs
Chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Some crusty bread or toasted turkish bread to serve

Method

In a large pan, heat up the oil and fry garlic for 1 minute. Then add diced ham/sausage if used, followed by tomatoes, red wine vinegar, chilli flakes, salt and black pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then add basil leaves, reserving 4-5 leaves for later. Simmer for a further 8 minutes or so until the tomatoes have broken down and taken on the flavours from the garlic and basil. Then, break the eggs over the top of the tomato sauce, spacing them out evenly in one layer. Sprinkle  a little salt over the eggs and scatter over with the extra basil leaves. Cover with a lid and cook gently on low heat for 5-7 minutes, or until the eggs are just set (they should be soft and wobbly). Remove lid and garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with hot buttered crusty bread.

Note: If you prefer a more "saucy" dish, double the amount of diced tomatoes and other ingredients, keeping the same number of eggs.

And on another note, the Liebster Award...

I was thrilled when Kit from Kit(tchen) told me that she had nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. This award is simply a way of giving recognition to newer blogs or those that have fewer than 200 followers, which is an absolutely fantastic idea. The recipient of the award then has to select five other such blogs to pass the award on to.

To accept the Liebster Blog Award nomination one must:

~ thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog.

~ link back to the blogger who awarded you.

~ copy & paste the blog award on your blog

~ reveal your 5 blog picks.

~ let them know you choose them by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my top picks (in no particular order):

• Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes - lovely, sunny and happy name for a blog, with beautiful photos and recipes
• Not The Kitchen Sink! - for the ever so breath-taking photos!
• Through the Kitchen Door - lovely recipes and bakes by Mel....and she leaves such nice comments on my blog :)
• Pencil Kitchen - I adore her gorgeous looking cakes!!
• Chow Divine - another great source for Korean recipes that I just discovered!