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Epicurious

Peppery, Creamy Greens With Eggs

By Christian Reynoso

4.5

(13)

An enameled castiron skillet filled with creamed greens topped with four shirred eggs set in its quadrants along with...
Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Liza Jernow

Eggs. Rich cream. Peppery greens. I didn’t invent this low-fuss, highly satisfying trifecta, but I certainly have something to say about it: Please, please, please, skip mild greens like spinach, and instead choose options with robust flavor, like mustard greens, wild arugula, peppery watercress, or, best of all, a mixture of all three. Not only are spicy greens inherently more interesting, but they actually provide balance to the eggs and cream. Sweet onion, garlic, and black pepper round out the other flavors as well as olive oil, which adds a sharp bite of its own. Toast is key for sopping it up, either torn into pieces or used as tartine with eggs and cream sitting on top.

  

Some practical stuff: Make sure you have a lid to fit your large skillet; these eggs are cooked on the stovetop and the lid allows for easy peeking and ensures that the tops of the eggs gently set at the same rate as the bottoms.

Recipe information

  • Total Time

    20 minutes

  • Yield

    2–4 servings

Ingredients

½ cup heavy cream
2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, divided
½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth or water
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 cups coarsely chopped peppery greens (such as mustard greens, wild arugula, or watercress)
4 large eggs
Flaky sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
4 thick slices bread (such as country-style, seedy, or pain de mie), toasted

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Using a fork, mix cream and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a small bowl or a 2-cup measuring glass until salt is dissolved, then stir in broth. Set aside.

    Step 2

    Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium. Add onion, garlic, and 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt and stir in the salt well with a wooden spoon (this will help onion release it’s moisture, making sure it cooks but doesn’t brown). Cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.

    Step 3

    Add 1 Tbsp. water to pan followed by half of greens, stirring well (you want to get some of the greens in direct contact with the bottom of the pan). Cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Mix in remaining greens and cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 3 minutes.

    Step 4

    Reduce heat to low and pour half of reserved cream mixture over greens mixture. Using wooden spoon, make 4 wells in greens mixture, spacing evenly apart. Crack an egg into each well and pour remaining cream mix over eggs. Cover pan with lid and increase heat to medium-low. Cook until eggs whites are almost entirely opaque but yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let sit, still covered, until whites are completely cooked, about 2 minutes. (If the bottoms of the eggs seem to be cooking faster than the tops, just turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and cook the tops with the residual heat. If you want more firm egg yolks, just simmer or keep the lid on for a little longer.)

    Step 5

    Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and drizzle generously with oil over the top. Serve with toast.

TagsEggMustard GreensLeafy GreensVegetableArugulaWatercressMainBreakfastBrunchNut FreeVegetarianQuickEasyOne-Pot Meals30 Minutes or LessFrySauteEpicurious

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