Lunch on a Tray - Baked Eggs With Prosciutto, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese

Just because there is only one of you doesn't mean you shouldn't eat well or even entertain yourself everyday.  Why should you miss out on one of life's greatest pleasures just because there is no one else around to cook for?  My friends have always kidded me that I am the only person they know who actually makes dinner for herself every night.  First of all, I enjoy cooking and secondly I like to pamper myself.  Sometimes it may be a nice bubble bath but most of the times it is food!  That doesn't mean it has to be a fattening recipe either. Most of the things that I make for myself are healthy and nutritional and they surely beat a Happy Meal any day of the week.  As to the presentation...well, for me its 50% of the whole experience.

To begin with, I always have my breakfast tray set up so when I wake up in the morning I can have my coffee in style in no time.  That way I can take it to any part of the house, whether it is the bedroom or my office and enjoy it while I catch up on the morning news.  This is the same tray that doubles later on in the day for afternoon tea while I watch my favorite Food Network shows after the market closes.   It has a quilted cotton placemat which I throw in the washing machine when it's stained, my favorite coffee cup, a creamer, sugar bowl, silver butter dish, miniature salt and pepper shakers and, of course, a small stainless steel coffee pot, just like the ones they have at the nice hotels. In the summer when there are plenty of flowers in the garden, I have a small vase which I change every couple of days.  Really, no joke.  It is always set up and ready to go.

Sometimes if I'm trading or working on my blog, I will have lunch on this tray in my small home office.  One of my favorite things to have midday is eggs, particularly baked eggs.  They are nutritional, low in fat and give you lots of energy for the rest of the afternoon.  I have already posted a recipe for baked eggs but these I made last week on an inspiration.You can tell how much I liked them by looking at the last photo.  They took no time to prepare and 8 minutes to bake in the toaster oven...the same time it takes to make a boring and fattening sandwich!  They were also made with ingredients I already had in the refrigerator so they were economical to boot!

Do take the time to pamper yourself a little bit, you'll feel great afterwards.  Whenever I'm asked for the name of the person who gave me something beautiful I have around the house I always have the same answer ...the one who loves me best...Me!

Serves 1

Ingredients

1/2 slice of pancetta 1/4 in thick
1 TB chopped onions
butter for the egg dish
2 eggs
1 TB. chopped frozen spinach
1 TB Parmesan cheese
2 TB heavy cream (optional)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut up the pancetta in small pieces. Saute with the onions in a small skillet.  Butter the egg dish and break the eggs into it.  When the pancetta is almost crispy add to the eggs.  Break up the frozen spinach and distribute over the eggs.  Finish by adding the Parmesan cheese a TB of heavy cream over each egg dish (optional) and the salt and pepper.  Cook in a preheated toaster oven or regular oven at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until the whites are fully cooked and the yolk soft.  Ovens vary so watch closely!  Eggs should always be baked at a high temperature for best results.  Also bring out of the oven on the soft side, remember they continue cooking after you take them out.