Fluffy Baked Eggs with Roasted-Vegetable Hash

When I was initially conceptualizing this dish I was thinking about making sweet potato hash with runny egg yolks.  But then I started playing around online and came up with this dish.  It wasn't exactly what I was planning on, but it seemed interesting enough to alter my tentative meal plans.  So we hit the farmers' market to stock up on eggs and mushrooms to go with the sweet potatoes we already had in the pantry.  I'm not sure exactly what inspired me to buy sweet potatoes, but I decided some time ago to pick up a few in an attempt to mix things up a bit more.  I was planning on making a Vietnamese curry with sweet potatoes, but somehow that never came to be.  And then I thought about making roasted sweet potato fries, but that never came to be either.  So today for lunch we finally used our sweet potatoes to make this dish.  And it was lovely - very autumnal, but not heavy and greasy.  The eggs were fluffy and light.  And delightfully cheesy, but not overwhelmingly so.  Alex was actually amazed by how much the eggs rose/puffed up during the baking process.  They almost reminded me of a souffle, but not quite as airy and far less labor-intensive to prepare.  It's not a dish that I will be dreaming about for years to come, but I was very pleased with it.

Recipe after the jump!

Fluffy Baked Eggs with Roasted-Vegetable Hash

Gourmet

March 2006

INGREDIENTS:
Butter for greasing dish
10 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 oz Swiss cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
10 oz cremini mushrooms, trimmed and coarsely chopped (1/4-inch pieces)
1 large sweet potato (8 to 10 oz), peeled and coarsely chopped (1/4-inch pieces)
1 large shallot, halved and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 450°F. Butter a 2-quart shallow baking dish (about 2 inches deep).

Whisk together eggs, milk, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until smooth, then whisk in cheese. Pour into baking dish. Bake in upper third of oven until puffed, golden, and set, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss together mushrooms, sweet potato, shallot, oil, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a 17- by 13- by 1-inch baking pan. Spread vegetables in an even layer, then roast in lower third of oven while eggs are baking, stirring twice after 10 minutes, until tender and golden brown, about 18 minutes.

Serve eggs with roasted vegetables spooned on top.