Baked Eggs with Serrano Ham and Snow Peas (Spanish Huevos al Plato)
Huevos al plato (baked eggs in an individual dish) are a classic of Spanish home cooking — very 1970s. Like most dishes of this kind, they lend themselves to all sorts of adaptations. So let's get creative.
My mother used to make them at least 20 years ago, in some very particular dishes that at home were only used for this purpose. I remember they were decorated with ducks and leaves — I don't remember the drawing exactly, but I perfectly remember the characteristic smell that filled the whole kitchen when she made them. I remember they had ham, tomato sauce and peas.
I'll ask her to make them again one day.
Today I decided to make my own version. I got excited when I saw I had some snow peas at home that I'd bought yesterday at the greengrocer's downstairs. These pea pods were 5 euros a kilo, but with 200 g — that is, 1 euro — you can turn any dish into a party, because these super-crunchy pods are so good and fun. If you haven't tried them, I recommend you do: lightly sautéed in oil they stay very crunchy and tasty.
As I said, baked eggs are ideal for variations like the one I made today. I added some shavings of serrano ham and some snow peas, cooked in the pan for just 2 minutes with a drop of oil. See the photos (click on the photo to see it better).
The first thing to do is grease the ovenproof dish with a little butter or oil so the eggs don't stick. Then I added the ham, the eggs and the snow peas.
I baked them at 180 °C for 12 minutes. Since I didn't know how long they needed, I started with 5 minutes, then added 4 more and then 2 — 11 in total, plus the time spent checking and resetting the oven, so about 12 minutes. They came out perfect. But they didn't reach the level of the ones fixed in my memory that my mother used to make. These were fine, but nothing special — a typical 6.5 out of 10: good, but not outstanding.
Searching online, I found a version made in the microwave, covering the dish with cling film and cooking for 5 minutes at medium power. It won't be the same at all, because they'll steam, but they can turn out well, and they're quick.
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