Gratin of Eggs with Chilli and Chorizo

Anyone for grilled eggs? Not in the normal repertoire of cooking skills I will admit, but a glorious dodge for cheats who do not have the time or patience to hang around for ovens to pre-heat. Also, as we discovered further back, sautéing can be easily accomplished under a grill, so that a meal such as the following can be made all in one dish, thus eliminating the need to use, or more importantly wash, a frying pan. The very special hero ingredient here has two pluses: one, it's really authentic Spanish chorizo made in Spain and two, it comes in delightful little packs, ready chopped. Along with this is Sainsbury's ready-grated strong Cheddar, both magnificent contributors to this lazy, but luscious supper dish.

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  Serves 2

Ingredients
1 small red pepper
1 fat red chilli
1 small red onion
1½ tablespoons olive oil
1 x 150 g pack of Sainsbury's Spanish Taquitos De Chorizo (or other good-quality chorizo)
4 large fresh eggs
5 oz (150 g) ready-grated strong Cheddar (preferably Sainsbury's)
salt and freshly milled black pepper
cayenne pepper

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This recipe first appeared in You magazine.

Method

First, switch the grill on to high and position the grill tray about 4 inches (10 cm) from the heat. If you have a Mini Chopper, as all self- respecting cheats should (see How to Cheat Equipment Hero, below), all you've got to do now is trim off the stalks and de-seed the pepper and chilli and roughly chop them before chopping them fairly small in the chopper (or with a knife).

The onion is peeled, quartered and receives the same treatment. Now, toss the pepper, chilli and onion in the olive oil in a heatproof, shallow, square or oval gratin dish, about 8 inches (20 cm) across the base.

Then place the dish under the grill where it will take about 4 minutes to start sizzling and turn golden.

Then add the chorizo, toss it around in the oil and give it another minute or two. It's nice when the onion begins to char a bit at the edge, but don’t go away! When you're happy with it, remove the dish from the grill and make four spaces in the mixture. Then break an egg into each space and add some seasoning of salt and pepper.

Now sprinkle the cheese all over, making sure you pile up a bit extra over the yolks to protect them as they tend to cook more quickly than the whites. Back under the grill it goes, and it will take between 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.

Sprinkle with a little cayenne pepper before eating.

*How To Cheat Hero Ingredients:* * Sainsbury's Spanish Taquitos De Chorizo Sainsbury's ready-grated strong Cheddar *How To Cheat Equipment Hero:*Kenwood CH180 Mini Chopper Available from Woolworths, Argos, larger Boots stores, Sainsbury’s, House of Fraser, Allders and Safeway Delia says, 'If you want to short-circuit lots of tedious chopping and knife sharpening, I’m really enthusiastic about this ingenious mini food processor. 1 tablespoon chopped parsley: 2 seconds, ¾ packet watercress: 4-5 seconds, a finely chopped onion… you name it – thousands of fast little processes that save you time.

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