Eggs, over spinach and on toast...

Mondays are typically not too busy around here, but today was an exception... by the time dinner finally rolled around, both of us were wanting something quick, yet satisfying.

This weekend we picked up some fresh sourdough bread as I needed a portion of it for a recipe later on this week. Since I didn't need the whole thing, I went ahead and snuck a few slices from it to make this Easy Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Goat Cheese tonight. You'll notice that I didn't put a quantity of bread in the recipe - I used a baguette, so the slices were not very wide and ended up using 2 pieces for each serving. If you use a larger sourdough loaf, one slice would probably be sufficient.

To add some additional flavor and crispness to the bread, the slices are first brushed with golden olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper before sliding under the broiler to toast up. We then tossed a very large mound of spinach and a couple thinly sliced scallions into a warm skillet - after tossing and turning the mixture for a couple of minutes, it had wilted down and released quite a bit of liquid. I used a very large skillet and was able to fit the full pound of greens inside, but if you can't add it all at once, just add a little at a time, letting it wilt down before adding the next handful. At this point, the spinach will be almost swimming in liquid, so you want to drain as much of it off as you can - you don't need to go crazy and squeeze it dry, but do press on it with a spatula to push out some of the excess. A few ounces of crumbled goat cheese (yes, I realize that this sounds quite close to our process last night for dinner, but I assure you the end results are different!) are added to the warm greens. The residual heat will soften and melt the cheese, making the spinach very tangy and creamy.

We transferred the wilted spinach mixture to a bowl and wiped out the skillet so we could use the same one to cook the eggs. The eggs are only on the heat long enough to begin setting the whites - they are then taken off the burner, covered and left to sit until they whites have firmed up, yet the yolk remains lusciously soft. Served as a mid-morning brunch on a lazy weekend morning or as a speedy go-to dinner like tonight, I think I'll be able to remember how to prepare this easy dish without even needing to go back to the recipe. With it's crunchy, yet tender toast on the bottom, a creamy layer of greens in the middle, followed by a sunny egg on top, it will be hard to forget!

Recipes
Easy Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Goat Cheese