Gluten Free Artichoke, Ham, and Egg Gratin Recipe
I firmly believe that in order to master any subject, you must first learn the basics. This is certainly true for cooking. Learn a few fundamentals and from there you can create all sorts of amazing concoctions and become a home chef extraordinaire.
What I love about this Gluten Free Artichoke, Ham, and Egg Gratin recipe is that it is comprised of basics – poached eggs, artichoke hearts, and white sauce. The white sauce has been jazzed up and transformed with a bit of tomato paste which turns it into a completely different sauce.
I believe that poached eggs are one of life’s most simple and sublime pleasures – there is just something about a perfectly set white surrounding a luscious runny yolk that just makes me swoon.
Here’s a couple tips for perfectly poached eggs:
- Start with the best eggs you can get –cage-free pastured eggs (I get mine from Nature’s Yoke) are not only better for you but will give you the best poached egg.
- Use a wide, deep skillet or Dutch oven to make your poached eggs, too shallow of a pan can give you trouble.
- Add a splash of white distilled vinegar to your water to help the white of the egg from separating too much.
- Crack the eggs into a small ramekin or bowl and then slide the egg into the simmering water.
- Remove the poached egg from the simmering water with a slotted spoon and transfer it to a plate lined with paper towels. You can trim up the edges with a knife if you want really perfect looking eggs – shhh this will be our little secret!
- Believe it or not, poached eggs can be made ahead of time! Simply undercook the eggs by about 30 seconds, slide them into a bowl of cold water and keep in the fridge. Just before serving, slip the eggs into simmering water to heat for about 30 seconds.
Artichokes are another of my great pleasures. I love the experience of pulling off the leaves, dipping them into a yummy hollandaise or melted butter and scrapping off the tasty flesh with my teeth but most of all I adore their hearts! Cleaned out artichoke heart bottoms make a fabulous vessel for holding poached eggs. The shape is perfect and eggs and artichokes were meant to go together in my humble opinion.
Like some people I know, the tender heart of the artichoke is surrounded by a prickly, spiky thistle – you need to get past the rough to get to the tender.
Here are some step-by-step photos to show you how to do it:
Cut off the bottom of the artichoke and snip the sharp ends of the leaves with scissors.
Cook artichokes in plenty of boiling water until the leaves are tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove the leaves from the artichoke (don’t throw away, they are delicious!)
Pull off the leaves to reveal the hairy center.
Using a spoon, scrape out the thistle.
Now you have the perfect vessel for filling!
White sauce is such a basic to learn, it can be the basis for so many other things such as cheese dip, spinach gratin, gravy – the list goes on and on. It is not hard to make, so versatile and so quick, there is just no good reason not to master this basic. I learned to make white sauce in home ec in high school and this is the way I’ve always done it:
Melt butter (or dairy free butter or even oil for that matter) in a heavy skillet over medium heat, add an equal amount of gluten free flour or sweet rice flour and whisk, whisk, whisk until no lumps. Pour in cold milk, all at once, and again, whisk like crazy. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the sauce as it thickens.
Now that you have some basics down, let’s put them all together in this lovely dish, perfect for brunch! This recipe serves 2 but can easily be doubled or tripled.
Gluten Free Artichoke, Ham, and Egg Gratin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon gluten free flour or sweet rice flour
- 1 cup cold milk
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 4 artichoke heart bottoms
- 2 very thin slices ham
- 4 pouched eggs
- 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until all lumps are gone. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the milk, all at once, and whisk well ensuring no lumps. Switch to a spoon and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Whisk in the salt and tomato paste. Cook for another minute.
- Preheat the broiler to high.
- Place the artichoke heart bottoms in a baking dish. Cut the ham into strips and place a quarter of the ham in each artichoke heart bottom. Top with a pouched egg. Spoon the sauce over the eggs, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and broil for 2- 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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