Eggs Florentine
Toasted English muffins piled with buttery wilted spinach, softly poached eggs and a warm lemon hollandaise for a vegetarian brunch.
Method
- 1
Melt 175 g of the butter gently in a small saucepan, then keep it somewhere warm.
- 2
Bring a wide, deep pan of water to a bare simmer for the eggs and add the vinegar.
- 3
Set a heatproof bowl over a medium pan of barely simmering water, with the base of the bowl clear of the water.
- 4
Whisk the yolks, lemon juice and water in the bowl until thick and pale, and the whisk leaves a trail.
- 5
Take the bowl off the heat and whisk in the warm butter, a few drops at first and then in a thin stream, until thick and glossy.
- 6
Season the hollandaise with salt and cayenne and leave it over the pan of hot water with the heat off.
- 7
Melt the remaining butter in a large frying pan, add the spinach in handfuls and toss until just wilted.
- 8
Tip the spinach into a sieve, press out the liquid with the back of a spoon and season with salt and nutmeg.
- 9
Toast the muffin halves until golden.
- 10
Slide 4 eggs, one at a time, into the simmering water and poach until the whites are set and the yolks still soft.
- 11
Lift them onto kitchen paper with a slotted spoon, then poach the other 4 eggs the same way.
- 12
Pile spinach onto each muffin half, set an egg on top and spoon over the hollandaise.
Notes
- Squeeze the spinach well. Any water left in it seeps out and makes the muffins soggy.
- If the hollandaise starts to look oily, whisk in a spoonful of warm water off the heat. If it splits completely, whisk a fresh yolk in a clean bowl and slowly beat the broken sauce into it.
- The yolks in the sauce and the eggs are only lightly cooked. Use pasteurized eggs for young children, pregnant people or anyone with a weakened immune system.
Equipment
Small saucepan, Heatproof bowl, Medium saucepan, Whisk, Wide deep pan, Large frying pan, Sieve, Slotted spoon, Toaster