Eggs in a Spinach Nest

° Serves 4 as a first course or brunch main course

This makes a terrific main dish for brunch or first course for dinner, typical of the way eggs are often served in France.

If you like, you can cook the spinach ahead and reheat it in the oven before adding the eggs to finish the dish.

• One 12-ounce package prewashed baby spinach
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs, preferably organic
• 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
• Dash of paprika
• ¼ cup heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pile the spinach into an oval gratin dish about 14 inches long and 8 inches wide. Place the dish on a cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes, until the spinach has wilted considerably and is beginning to “melt” down into the dish.

Remove the dish from the oven and press on the spinach with a fork to gather it together. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and olive oil, stir to mix well, and press again into one compact layer in the dish.

If you are serving the dish immediately, make 4 “nests” in the spinach with a spoon. Break an egg into each nest, sprinkle the eggs with the cheese and paprika, and bake for 7 to 10 minutes, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still soft and runny. (Cook longer if you like your egg yolks hard.) Spoon the cream over the entire surface of the dish and serve immediately.

If you will be serving it later, allow the spinach to cool. When you are ready to complete the recipe, return the dish to a 400-degree oven for 5 minutes to reheat the spinach, then proceed as described above.