Creamed spinach with eggs – a brunch bonanza!

Creamed Spinach with Eggs features in The Hairy Dieters’ ‘Go Veggie’ book and tastes and feels like you’re eating a luxurious brunch, at a cost of only around 78p per portion! (excluding the costs of spices that you’ll need to have in your store cupboard).

If you like curry flavours give this a go – the tumeric, cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon come together beautifully with the onion, spinach and single cream. The eggs, topped with the grated cheese, complement this dish perfectly, especially when you stick it under the grill to finish off. Simply gorgeous!

The Hairy Dieters suggest accompanying this with some rosti, you’ll find the recipe elsewhere in their book. Rosti is a Swiss dish consisting mainly of potatoes and root vegetables. A standard serving (based on 4 people) will add another 239 calories onto this meal. And while I haven’t tried making rosti, I’m not sure whether this dish needs it. See what you think.

Recipe: Creamed spinach with eggs

Calories: 249 per serving

Serves: 4 (*NB the photo above shows 2 portions)

Book: The Hairy Dieters Go Veggie

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20-25 mins

Ingredients:

• 10g butter
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 1/4 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• Pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon
• 300g spinach (washed and roughly chopped)
• 150ml single cream
• 50g reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (grated)
• 4 eggs
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Cost per portion: Approx * 81p (*based on Tesco’s prices, October 2022)

Method:

Melt the butter in a large frying pan and add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook the onion over a gentle heat until it’s soft and translucent. Sprinkle in the spices with some freshly ground black pepper and stir to coat the onion.

Add the spinach and stir, pushing the leaves down into the pan until they have wilted. Turn up the heat slightly and continue to cook and stir until any liquid from the spinach has evaporated.

Pour in the single cream and keep stirring until the cream has reduced – the spinach should be well broken down and creamy, but not wet. Add half the grated cheese and stir it through until it has melted.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Lower the eggs gently into the water and cook them for 6 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan and put them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Carefully peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthways. Push the eggs into the spinach, yolk-side up, then sprinkle over the rest of the cheese. Cover and cook until the eggs are warmed through and the cheese has melted. You can put the pan under a grill instead if you prefer the cheese to brown. Serve at once.