This weekend I got out the shallow mini-casserole dishes I use especially for individualized portions of baked eggs when guests are staying (it never fails to impress). Though no one was visiting this time, I figured Super Bowl Sunday warranted a special effort, so I made a kind of Middle Eastern baked eggs with lamb (inspired by a lot of lamb hashes I’ve been seeing on brunch menus lately). I had about a pound of ground lamb, which I browned in a pan with some olive oil. To this I added one small chopped onion, and cooked it for approximately five minutes. Then came a quarter-cup of very fresh parsley, a teaspoon of my own homemade garam masala mix (though it’s fine to buy a premade one, or even just sub in curry powder), a large can of diced tomatoes, and of course salt and pepper to taste. I cooked all this for about another four minutes, then divided the mixture among four of my “fancy” dishes. I cracked two eggs atop each, and baked them for about five minutes at 400 degrees (a little longer if you want your egg less runny). I sprinkled the whole affair with chopped fresh cilantro and voila—a dish that looked and tasted as good as what you’d expect to see at a restaurant (in my humble opinion).

nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com