Serves 2:

Ingredients:

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 garlic cloves

leaves from a couple of thyme sprigs

200 gram tin of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

2 tsp harissa paste

100g spinach leaves (the pre-washed version is both easy and readily available in this quantity)

200g passata or chopped tomatoes

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 eggs

1 tsp sumac

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Preheat the grill to medium or put the oven on a low temperature 140 -150 degrees/120 Fan/Gas Mark 1.

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan, add the garlic and thyme leaves and sauté for a few minutes, until the garlic has softened but is not burnt.

Add the chickpeas and harissa paste and sauté for a further 2-3 minutes, stir in the spinach and the passata (or chopped tomatoes), bring to boil and simmer. When the mixture starts to gently bubble, create a small indentation in the mixture with the back of a dessertspoon and carefully crack the egg into it, repeat the process so that the eggs are safely placed on top of the dish.

Cook for a further 2 minutes then transfer the pan to the preheated grill (or oven) and cook for 2-3 minutes until the egg white is cooked but the yolks are runny. Well worth keeping an eye on it at this stage, particularly if you like your eggs soft.

Remove from the grill, drizzle with a little extra olive oil and sprinkle with sumac. Season with freshly ground pepper and minimal sea salt..

Serve immediately with crusty sourdough bread. 

Nutritional highlights:

I find this dish very tasty and versatile and introduced our family to sumac for the first time. Sumac I have since discovered  is produced by grinding the fruits of the rhus coriaria shrub and is used extensively in Middle Eastern dishes. It is reported to be a strong anti-oxidant, but importantly in terms of culinary contribution it provides a great lemon flavour to dishes.

Anything incorporating a generous serving of chickpeas such as this, will provide you with lashings of soluble fibre and healthy phytonutrients called isoflavones. Chickpeas help control blood glucose levels and may reduce the build up of cholesterol in the arteries and as such support heart health.

Recipe based on ‘Spicy Baked Eggs with Tomatoes and Chickpeas’ from The Doctor’s Kitchen cook book with kind permission of  Dr Rupy Ajula. Tag: www.thedoctorskitchen.com