Life

James Street Cookery School: Baked eggs, chorizo and mushrooms; sweet potato and sage bake

Niall McKenna's baked eggs, chorizo and mushrooms
Niall McKenna's baked eggs, chorizo and mushrooms Niall McKenna's baked eggs, chorizo and mushrooms

A LITTLE late to be breakfast, a little early for lunch, brunch is the perfect meal for a lazy Saturday morning when you have a day of relaxing, catching up with friends and family and practising a bit of self-care in store.

These are two versatile dishes that make for a beautiful brunch or quick, tasty dinner. If time isn’t on your side, serve them with no accompaniments.

The baked eggs dish is a particular treat at the weekend and the sweet potato with sage makes for a great alternative to mac and cheese – together they make for a tasty, healthy meal that will leave you feeling satisfied.

BAKED EGGS, CHORIZO AND MUSHROOMS

(Serves 4 as brunch)

4 eggs

1 sausage of soft cooking chorizo

1 small onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, sliced

4 portobello mushroom, cleaned

1 knob butter

1 clove garlic sliced

oil

salt

pepper

Remove the skin of the chorizo and slice in to bite-sized chunks (most good supermarkets sell uncooked chorizo which you have to cook through before eating).

Place a heavy-bottomed oven-proof pan on the hob with a drizzle of oil on the bottom; add the onions and garlic and leave for five minutes on a medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook on a high heat until all the juice is released from the chorizo and it starts to brown. Add 50ml of water and leave on a gentle heat to cook out. After a few minutes, remove from the heat, leave to cool and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 180C. Clean the mushrooms thoroughly and slice. Place a little oil in the pan and melt the butter with a sliced garlic clove for a minute, no more than two. Place the chopped mushrooms in tinfoil, sprinkle with the melted butter and garlic and tuck up en papillote (like an envelope); place on a baking tray in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove, take the mushrooms out and place on the pan with the chorizo. Keep the oven on.

Give the pan a good stir to evenly distribute the mushrooms and chorizo, making a clear space in each quarter of the pan to crack the eggs into. Place back in the oven for 15 minutes or until the whites of the egg has cooked – you ideally want the yolk soft. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and then serve with fresh sourdough.

SWEET POTATO AND SAGE BAKE

(Serves 4)

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

salt and pepper

1 tablesp olive oil

small bunch of sage, chopped

300g greek yoghurt

200g Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 170C. Place the chopped sweet potatoes in a shallow oven-proof dish. Season with salt and pepper and coat with the oil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven and stir in the yoghurt, the torn sage (keeping a few sprigs back to garnish) and sprinkle with the cheese before placing back in the oven for a further 20 minutes, until the cheese is golden and the sweet potato is tender.

Serve immediately and enjoy.