The egg casserole is an appetizer that has the double advantage of being easy to make and adaptable to many ingredients in the cupboard. In autumn, this speciality can easily be embellished with mushrooms. I suggest you discover the recipe of eggs casserole with mushrooms and bacon.
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients needed to make eggs casserole with mushrooms and bacon for 4 people:
100 g smoked bacon
250 g of mushrooms
4 large extra fresh eggs
20 cl of fresh cream (or vegetable cream)
chopped parsley or chives
salt and pepper
To note: to make this recipe, the easiest solution is to use button mushrooms available all year round in supermarkets. However, if you like to practice picking woodland mushrooms, don't hesitate to use your harvest of porcini or boletus for an even tastier result.
Preparation of the filling
For the filling of these eggs casserole with mushrooms and lardons, we start by preparing a simple pan of mushrooms.
1- Clean the mushrooms and cut them into strips.
2- Heat a frying pan and brown the lardons without adding any fat.
3- When the lardons have rendered their fat, add the mushrooms and fry the whole for 5 to 8 minutes.
4- Season your pan with a little salt and add chopped parsley or chives.
Assembly of the eggs casserole
An egg casserole refers to an egg cooked in a water bath in a small ramekin. To prepare this appetizer, the ramekin is first filled with the filling before the egg is placed on top.
1- Divide the mushroom and bacon-based pan into 4 small individual ramekins.
2- Add one to two tablespoons of fresh cream to each ramekin.
To note: if you are watching your LDL cholesterol levels, you can replace the milk-based crème fraîche with a plant-based alternative such as a brick Oatmeal Kitchen.
3- The last step in the assembly is to add the egg to the top of the ramekin. For this step, you can break the egg directly into the ramekin, which is the most commonly used method.
To note: for this mushroom and lardon eggs casserole recipe, I tried another method of separating the eggs so that the yolk is less cooked than the white. In this case, the egg white is added to the top of the ramekin and the yolk is reserved in a bowl for the rest of the recipe.
Cooking of the eggs cocotte
According to the traditional recipe, the eggs are cooked in the oven in a water bath. However, since I acquired a steamer, I find it more convenient to use this cooking method.
If you broke the whole egg on top of the ramekin, place the ramekins in the basket of your steamer and count about 12 minutes of cooking time. The mushroom and bacon eggs casserole are done when the egg white is set.
If you decided to separate eggs, cook the egg white for 10 minutes, then gently add the egg yolk and continue cooking in the steamer for about 3 minutes.
Before serving, sprinkle the eggs casserole with salt, pepper and chopped herbs.
Tasting advice
I recommend that you serve these eggs with mushrooms and lardons in a casserole dish as you would for boiled eggs.
While the yolk may seem overcooked to you after steaming, the inside of the yolk remains runny, which is why it's a good idea to serve this appetizer with some good sourdough country bread or toast slices.