Eggs Florentine

Ingredients

• eggs
• spinach leaves
• butter
• grated cheese (Parmesan)
• Mornay sauce (béchamel mère with cheese)
• 1/2 teaspoon boiling cream

Instructions

1. This recipe presents three classical preparations of Eggs Florentine, all built on a foundation of blanched spinach leaves stewed in butter (étuvées au beurre).
2. Baked (Sur le plat):** Line a baking dish with the blanched and buttered spinach. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Break the eggs directly onto this bed. Coat the eggs lightly with Mornay sauce (a light cheese-enriched béchamel mère). Place in a hot oven to glaze and cook the eggs simultaneously.
3. Poached or Soft-boiled (Pochés ou Mollets):** Line tartlet shells with the prepared spinach as above. Arrange the poached or soft-boiled eggs on top, napped (coated) with Mornay sauce and lightly dusted with grated Parmesan. Glaze briskly under heat.
4. In Cocotte (En cocotte):** Line well-buttered cocotte dishes (small individual baking vessels) with blanched spinach leaves stewed in butter, coating both bottom and sides. Pour a half-teaspoon of boiling cream into each cocotte. Break an egg into each. Dust with a pinch of finely grated, dry Parmesan cheese. Glaze and poach simultaneously in the oven.