Baked red capsicum with chorizo and egg

I am a huge fan of a baked egg dish. This one uses the flavour of capsicum with the glorious smoky paprika aroma of good dried chorizo. (Also try Matthew Evans' fresh chorizo with fried potato.)

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Make the sauce ahead and you can use keep it to use anytime you like within the next week or so. Your dish will improve dramatically if you have access to eggs from your own or a neighbour’s chooks.

Ingredients

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 capsicum, core removed and cut into 5 mm slices
• 1 dried chorizo (see Note)
• 1 bay leaf
• 250 ml (1 cup) tomato passata
• salt and pepper
• 4 eggs

Instructions

In a small saucepan, heat a generous glug of olive oil and gently sweat the onion and garlic. Add the sliced capsicum and cook for another 4-5 minutes to soften a bit.

Remove the skin from the chorizo, cut lengthways into quarters, then slice into 5 mm-thick pieces.

Add to pan with the vegetables and stir over medium heat. Cook until capsicum and onion is really soft. Add bay leaf, passata and 200 ml of water. Cook for about 20 minutes to make sure the chorizo is softened and yielding to the knife, surrendering its succulence to the sauce. The sauce should be quite thick by this stage. Taste for salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Transfer the sauce to a shallow, ovenproof dish (or even better, individual dishes), crack in the eggs and bake for about 5-10 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Serve immediately. 

Cook's note

• Chorizo comes fresh and dried. For a dish like this, the dried version is fine, but the fresh is quicker and easier. Dried chorizo, like any cured meat, tends to have a more complex flavour.

Image by Benito Martin. Styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food preparation by O Tama Carey. Creative concept by Belinda So.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Make the sauce ahead and you can use keep it to use anytime you like within the next week or so. Your dish will improve dramatically if you have access to eggs from your own or a neighbour’s chooks.