Veggie Egg and Mushroom Bake
Made using Bantam eggs, button mushrooms and topped with cheese, this bake is the perfect gluten free start to the New Year!
Suitable for gluten free
Serves 8 – 10
Bantams, which we’ve kept in the past, produce the tiniest, rinky dink eggs which are just beautiful in this dish, if you can get hold of them. Normal hen eggs are just as tasty though!
Guar gum is an all-natural thickener and helps to bind things in the absence of gluten. Alternatives are xanthan gum or psyllium husks- all available from health food stores.
Make it dairy free by omitting the cheese and swapping the butter and milk for dairy free alternatives.
Can be frozen but minus the eggs.
Dry ingredients
150g oz polenta
160g brown rice flour
3 tsp dried parsley, or use snipped fresh parsley (adjust to taste)
1 ½ tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1 ½ tsp guar gum
½ tsp salt
Wet ingredients
220ml whole milk
220ml olive or rapeseed oil
3 hen eggs
Topping ingredients
Drizzle of olive oil
15 – 20 button mushrooms
125g finely grated cheddar cheese (optional)
8 – 10 bantam/pheasant eggs/hen eggs (small) – one for each portion
Method
Weigh the wet and dry ingredients into separate bowls and beat the wet mix together using a hand whisk, forming a runny batter. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry. Fold together using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, making sure the mixture is well mixed and all the dry mix is lifted from the bottom of the bowl.
Spread the dough out in a lightly greased tray bake tin. Drizzle with olive oil and pop the button mushrooms over the top, cut in half (if necessary) and push down slightly into the dough. Grate the cheese over the top.
Bake at 180°C /350 F/Gas 4 for 15 minutes, then take from the oven and make little hollows with a metal spoon to accommodate the eggs – otherwise they roll all over the shop. Crack the eggs over the top so they rest in the hollows and place the tray bake back in oven until just solidified.
You can tell the bake is done once the base starts to slightly shrink inwards from the edges of the tin. It’s best served when the egg yolks are still runny – delish. Scatter over some fresh parsley just before serving.
