Recipe

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Baked Eggs & Sourdough

Name: Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Baked Eggs & Sourdough
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 900g mixed ripe tomatoes (cherry, vine and plum all work — a mix is best); 5 tbsp good olive oil, plus extra to finish; 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced; 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried); ½ tsp chilli flakes; 1 tsp caster sugar; Sea salt and black pepper; 6 eggs; 100g feta, crumbled (optional); Small bunch basil, leaves picked; Good sourdough, to serve

Tomatoes roasted slowly until they collapse and concentrate, then eggs cracked straight into the pan and baked until the whites just set and the yolks are still molten. Sourdough for mopping is not optional.

Serves 4

Ready in 1 hr (mostly passive)

Keeps Roasted tomato base keeps 4 days in fridge. Add eggs to order.

Level Easy

900g mixed ripe tomatoes (cherry, vine and plum all work — a mix is best)
5 tbsp good olive oil, plus extra to finish
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tsp dried)
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp caster sugar
Sea salt and black pepper
6 eggs
100g feta, crumbled (optional)
Small bunch basil, leaves picked
Good sourdough, to serve

Method

Heat the oven to 160°C / 140°C fan. Halve the larger tomatoes and leave cherry tomatoes whole. Arrange them in a single layer, cut-side up, in a large ovenproof frying pan or wide roasting dish. Scatter over the garlic slices, thyme, chilli flakes and sugar. Drizzle the olive oil over everything and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 45–50 minutes, until the tomatoes have fully collapsed, their liquid has largely evaporated and the cut edges are beginning to caramelise and catch. The pan should look concentrated and slightly jammy.

Remove the pan from the oven and increase the temperature to 190°C / 170°C fan. Use a large spoon to press 6 shallow wells into the tomato mixture, spacing them evenly. Crack one egg into each well — do this carefully so the yolk stays whole. Season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 8–10 minutes, checking at 8 minutes. The whites should be just set with no translucent wobble remaining, and the yolks should be visibly liquid — they will continue cooking from the residual heat of the tomatoes after the pan comes out, so pull them slightly before they look completely done. Overcooked yolks cannot be recovered.

Scatter the crumbled feta over the eggs and tomatoes if using. Tear the basil leaves over the top. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and bring the pan straight to the table. Serve with thick slices of sourdough for mopping.

✦ Chef's note

The slow-roasted tomato base can be made up to 4 days ahead and kept in the fridge — bring it back to a gentle simmer in the pan before adding the eggs. This makes it a genuinely fast weekday meal: the tomatoes are done, the eggs take 10 minutes. Without feta it's dairy-free; without the sourdough it's gluten-free. A tablespoon of harissa stirred into the tomatoes before roasting takes this in a North African direction and works very well. For a richer result, add a generous dollop of labneh or crème fraîche alongside rather than inside the dish.