baked eggs in rosti cups

These baked eggs in rosti cups are another delicious and simple lunch idea. The brilliant thing about the rosti cups is that you can make them and bake them in advance. They will keep them in the fridge for a few days or they can be frozen and reheated directly from the freezer. I’ve used a similar recipe to my divine potato kugel that includes onions but I’ve also added a quarter of a fennel bulb which gives them a slight aniseed edge.

Quails Eggs or Hens Eggs?

The rosti cups are a perfect vehicle for nesting some glorious quails eggs that I got from the wonderful folk at Scamans Eggs who are a local egg farm near to me here in Lincolnshire. I would never normally purchase quails eggs, The Viking has an unusual aversion to them.  It’s not that he doesn’t like the taste. He already has a moral challenge with eating regular hens eggs and he feels that any diversion from this is a step too far.  I’ve tried to make him see reason but he’s having none of it. So I’m glad that they sent them to me to play around with and I have to say they work really well in these rosti cups.

I’ve gone for 2 quails eggs per cup compared to 1 regular medium hens egg for The Viking who also had the genius notion to fill one of the cups with baked beans!

baked eggs in rosti cups

• 2 medium potatoes – I used Maris Piper and left the skin on
• 1/4 fennel bulb
• 1 banana shallot or small white onion
• 2 teaspoons plain flour
• fresh rosemary
• olive oil

You will need a 6 hole muffin tray which you should grease generously with butter.  Line the base of each one with a little square of baking parchment.

Cut the potatoes into quarters and boil them in water for about 8 minutes until tender.  Drain well and run them under cold water.  The potato needs to be cold before you move onto the next stage so an hour in the fridge after boiling is a good idea.

Coarsely grate the potato, onion and fennel into a large bowl.  Add a generous glug of olive oil, the flour, fresh rosemary and some salt and pepper and mix them all together so they’re well blended.

Divide the mixture into 6 and place each portion into the bowls of the muffin tray.  It may seem like a lot of mixture but once you start to push them down and shape them into cups you’ll see that they need it.  I used my hands, which I’d oiled first and also the end of a spice jar to help form them into cups.

Bake them in the oven set at 180C for 20 minutes until they start to turn golden.  The moment they come out of the oven, use the same utensil you used to create them to push them back into shape a little whilst they’re still pliable.  You want a nice deep cup shape.

You can crack the eggs into them straight away and pop them back in a hot oven, or they can be cooled down and stored in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for up to a month.

A quails egg takes roughly 10 minutes to reach a soft-baked stage. A hens eggs slightly longer but you’ll see them cook and you can make the call as you know how you life your eggs.

Eat and of course, enjoy!