Baked Egg Florentine

I spotted this Baked Egg Florentine recipe while flipping through Canadian House & Home's latest issue. The timing could not have been better since I was planning my brunch menu. How timely! I felt I needed an egg dish for the brunch but did not want to make eggs to order. This took some preparation but was very much enjoyed by all. I don't think I even knew exactly what was in an Egg Florentine. It is one of the many versions of Egg Benedict, substituting the ham with spinach. Now I have a new recipe for my breakfast répertoire!



Baked Egg Florentine - Serves 12
Adapted from Canadian House & Home, January 2010
I have changed the recipe by using English muffins instead of bread. I tried to follow the recipe by broiling the eggs on top of the prepared English muffins. However, the egg was too large for the muffin and would pour out. It was much easier to just fry the eggs first, and then quickly broil it so the cheese would melt.

For the spinach mixture.
2 tbsp butter
1 large leek, white and pale green part only, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 300g package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large frying pan over medium heat.
Add leeks and cook until softened but not browned, about 8 min.
Add garlic and cook another 2 min.
Meanwhile, squeeze the spinach well to remove water, then chop and add to leeks.
Stir until combined.
Add ¼ tsp salt.
Sprinkle evenly with flour and stir well to combine.
Cook 1 minute, then stir in ½ cup milk.
Cook until thickened, about 1 minute.
Set aside (this can be made a day in advance).

For the English muffins.
6 English muffins, split into 2 (making 12 in total)
3 eggs
1-½ cups milk
1 tbsp chopped dill (I didn't have any so just added dried oregano)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp flour
½ cup milk

Whisk 3 eggs, ½ cup milk, dill and ½ tsp salt together.
Carefully dip each half of the English muffin into the egg mixture and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Bake in the oven at 400F for 8 min or until bottoms are golden.
Flip English muffins and bake another 6 min.
Remove pan from the oven and set aside.


Preparing the spinach mixture and English muffins.

To assemble the Egg Florentine.
Save this step until your guests have arrived so it is served warm.

oil
12 eggs
baked English muffins (from above)
spinach mixture (from above)
½ cup grated Swiss or cheddar cheese

Heat oil in a pan.
Fry eggs in pan sunny side up (or to your guests' liking).
Meanwhile, divide spinach mixture among English muffins.
Top an egg on each muffin and sprinkle with cheese.
Broil for 2 minutes or until the cheese has melted - eggs will continue to cook once removed from oven.
Tada!


Assembling the Egg Florentine.


I served most of the eggs runny!

For the remaining brunch recipes:
* Apple Pancakes
* Pumpkin Muffins
* Homemade Breakfast Sausages
* Homemade Baked Beans
* Breakfast Potatoes
* Pumpkin Muffins
* Berry Fruit Salad
* Chocolate Dipped Strawberries