Breakfast

Spinach and Shallot Scrambled Eggs recipe

Name: Spinach and Shallot Scrambled Eggs
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 3 large banana shallots (or 4 small); 80g fresh spinach; 4 eggs, beaten; salt and black pepper; 15g Pecorino Romano (or any other salty cheese); a little fresh parsley, chopped (optional); 2 slices of bread (I use sourdough)

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I know these eggs are similar to Cheese and Spring Onion Scrambled Eggs but I love them so much they're getting their own recipe.

Prep10m
Cook20m
Total30m

eggs

I recently ran out of spring onions for my favourite scrambled egg breakfast. Shallots took their place and wow, just wow. I shouldn’t be surprised. Anthony Bourdain* wrote in Kitchen Confidential:

“Shallots are one of the things - a basic prep item in every mise-en-place - which make restaurant food taste different from your food. In my kitchen we use nearly 20 pounds a day.”

Emphasis not mine. That’s over 9 kilos. Imagine the poor soul who had to peel them.

Shallots pair beautifully with spinach and good bread ties everything together. Bertinet Bakery Seeded Sourdough is my current favourite, with a low-ish carb to fibre ratio of 6.2 (see notes). Toast and butter it (or drizzle over olive oil if you’re my mum) and heap these eggs on top. Add coffee and you have my all-time favourite weekend breakfast. I combine it with a small portion of Pimp My Bran Flakes then skip lunch as I don’t need it after such an almighty breakfast.

The cooking time is about 30 minutes because I love soft and creamy scrambled eggs. Nothing solid that rolls off the toast. You could cut the time in half if you turn up the heat but who wants rubbery eggs? Low and slow. You won’t regret it.

★ ★ ★

*I recently caught the episode of Archer, Live and Let Dine, where Anthony Bourdain guest stars. He was perfect.

Notes

Carb to fibre ratio

I learnt how to calculate the wholeness of whole-grain foods from the book Is Butter a Carb? by Registered Dietitians, Rosie Saunt and Helen West. I’m paraphrasing here for brevity:

Look at the food label (either per 100 grams or per portion). Multiply the grams of fibre by 10.
Aim for the result to be larger than the grams of total carbohydrates. This signals that you’ve got pretty “whole” food.

So, for the Bertinet loaf, the carbs (per 100g) are 37.2g. Fibre is 6g.

6 x 10 = 60. The result is greater than 37.2. It goes into my shopping basket.

Conversely, my beloved Jason's loaves have had a temporary change in supplier for their sprouted spelt grains. The carbs (per 100g) are now 44.8g. Fibre is 3.6g

3.6 x 10 = 36. Less than 44.8. I’ll still buy it but less often.

For a deeper dive into bread and carb to fibre ratios I recommend the video The Best Bread for Diabetes by Type One Talks.

Recipe

Spinach and Shallot Scrambled Eggs

Prep10m
Cook20m
Total30m

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Scrambled eggs

1 tbsp olive oil
3 large banana shallots (or 4 small)
80g fresh spinach
4 eggs, beaten
salt and black pepper
15g Pecorino Romano (or any other salty cheese)
a little fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Serve with

2 slices of bread (I use sourdough)

Method

Place a small to medium frying pan over a medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
Slice 3 large banana shallots and add to the pan. Fry for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add 80g of spinach (I do this in batches) and stir until the leaves have wilted and any water has evaporated (about 5 minutes).
Season 4 beaten eggs with salt and black pepper. Pour into the frying pan along with 15g of grated Pecorino Romano. For soft and creamy eggs, cook for around 8-10 minutes on the lowest heat possible, constantly stirring.
While the eggs are cooking, toast and butter 2 slices of bread.
Once the eggs are done to your liking, turn off the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed then divide the eggs between the toast. Finish with chopped fresh parsley (if using). Serve immediately.