Kaarasaaram: Egg Florentine Sandwich

29 Jun 2011

Egg Florentine Sandwich

"Egg Florentine" is a classic dish which ticks all the right boxes especially after a long day's work when you want to relax and have a nice tasty meal. This when coupled with a nice creamy soup, makes a luxurious dinner.

It can be had for breakfast, brunch - basically any time of the day. The ingredients are very simple, quick to assemble and tastes superb. All the ingredients are nutritious and easy on the pocket too.

This recipe can be easy transformed into "Egg Benedict" by substituting spinach with ham and topping with white cheese sauce.The whole thing is served on a savoury muffin .... yummy, isn't it!!!!!

Actually the tomato sauce used in this recipe is home-made which I should have posted earlier. So apologies for that and I will post it in the next couple of days. Usually the eggs are poached but I cooked the eggs in the microwave which took around 30-40 secs.

Florentines take:
Preparation time: 15 mins.
No of servings: 2-3
Spice level: 2

Now for the individual ingredients...
For the wilted spinach :
Fresh baby spinach [washed]: 2 handfuls
Garlic pods [sliced thinly]: 3-4.
Cumin powder: 1/2 tsp.
Ginger powder: 1/2 tsp.
Nutmeg powder: 1/4 tsp.
Salt: to taste.
Water: 1/4 cup [around 75 ml]

1.Heat a non stick pan on medium flame and add the spinach and sliced garlic [no oil needed].
2.Sprinkle the water and cover with lid.
3.After 5 minutes stir the spinach once. Add all the powders and salt.
4.Cover and cook for a couple of minutes.
5.Put off the flame and keep warm.

Note: There would be a certain amount of liquid in the wilted spinach. You can either simmer the spinach without the lid or drain and reserve the liquid. This liquid can be added to any soup or gravy that you would preparing in the next couple of days:)

For the eggs:
The original version is to poach the eggs - Simmer a pan with 1/4 filled with water with a splash of vinegar or salt. Break the eggs one by one very carefully into the water. Cook for a couple of minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are soft. Remove from water and keep warm.

I had this funny device with which the eggs can be cooked in the microwave. It was basically like shallow flan tins. You just need to add a couple of tablespoons of water, break the egg one in each case and cook for 30- 40 secs until set.

To assemble the florentines:
Garlic bread slices: 2-3
Tomato salsa/ tomato sauce: 3-4 tbsp.
Wilted spinach : 1 cup.
Eggs [poached] : 2-3.
Salt/pepper: to taste.

1.Toast garlic bread as per packet instructions.
2.Spread a tbsp of tomato sauce/ salsa on the garlic bread.
3.Arrange 2 tbsp of wilted spinach on top of the tomato sauce layer.
4.Top with poached egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Serve warm.

Note: The garlic bread can be substituted with thick slices of wholemeal bread. For more decadence sprinkle the florentines with grated cheddar cheese and warm in microwave for about a minute until the cheese is just melted.

Sending this to "Cook it Healthy- Proteinicious" , an event by Shobha.