Runny yolks, slivers of smoked salmon, a dollop of crème fraîche and fragrant dill. These oeufs en cocotte are the ultimate weekend treat.

Sometimes, when I wake up a later than planned on Saturday morning (a wonderful thing), I like to start the day with a little easy luxury, such as these creamy oeufs en cocotte (baked eggs) with smoked salmon and buttery croûtons. If you use one egg per person instead of two, and half the amount of salmon, you can also serve this dish as a beautiful starter.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • butter for the ramekins
  • 100g smoked salmon, chopped
  • 4 tbsps crème fraîche
  • few small sprigs fresh chopped dill, plus a few small sprigs for garnish
  • 8 small eggs
  • fine sea salt and freshly cracked pepper

For the croûtons:

  • large knob of butter
  • 8 slices of baguette

 

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Butter 4 shallow crème brûlée ramekins (approx. 11½ cm) and place them on a baking dish. Divide the smoked salmon, crème fraîche and dill over the ramekins. Crack two eggs in each one and season with salt and pepper. Pour some boiling water into the baking dish so that it comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins and pop the eggs in the oven for 8-10 minutes. In the meantime, melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the baguette slices for 2 minutes on each side. Serve the oeufs en cocotte with the croûtons: perfect for dipping into the runny yolks!