Cheesy Garlic and Tomato Eggs

Well this is not Sakshuka. The very famous dish from Israel. This is baked eggs. And I find the combination of eggs, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, coriander leaves and cheddar cheese just groundbreaking. I saw an Asian recipe on the internet of tomato eggs and instantly fell in love with it. I love it more than I have ever cared for the masala omelette. Seriously I have never liked it, if truth be told. I have a far more soft corner for the Bengali style omelette, fried in mustard oil, frying it for a little longer time and on high heat so that it develops a kind of crisp crust outside, while it stays perfectly soft in the inside, and not to mention beating it with just a little bit of red onion and those super spicy green chilli slivers, and then serving it with a generous amount of coarse ground black pepper on top. That is my kind of omelette. A very simple one, very common in every Bengali family and best made when mum makes it. 

But I rarely get those spicy chillies here and lately eating spice has started giving me stomach aches, so I stay away from the African herbenaro chillies and keep my food bland intentionally. In one of those mundane moments I discovered tomato eggs. Simple cooked pulpy tomatoes folded with soft fried eggs and served with spring onion. Being a very Indian at the heart, I readily replaced the spring onion with coriander leaves and topped my tomato eggs with cheddar cheese, because I am a cheese freak and I can not imagine fried egg without cheddar cheese. The sharpness of cheddar has given the lost touch of spicy Indian chillies to my taste buds. 

 

Eggs with Tomatoes and cheese

Serves 2

Ingredients:

6 cloves of garlic - finely chopped 

3 tomatoes - finely chopped

salt & pepper

100 gm cheddar cheese

4 eggs

2 tbsp olive oil

A handful of coriander leaves

Method:

In a saucepan mix the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and salt.

Cover it with a lid and cook on a very low flame for 30 minutes or until the mixture becomes pulpy.

If needed add some water and wait until it has a sauce like texture.

Transfer this to a frying pan and keep the tenperature low.

Make space for the eggs and crack the eggs one beside another.

Sprinkle the cheese on top and cover again.

Leave on low flame until the eggs become firm but a little wobbly and the cheese on top has melted and has become bubbly.

Sprinkle the coriander leaves and fresh cracked black pepper.

Serve hot with toasted sourdough bread, and an extra drizzle of olive oil.