Eggs Florentine is a vegetarian version of the classic dish eggs Benedict. It is a simple combination of spinach, eggs and hollandaise sauce served on English muffins. For the purist homemade hollandaise will always taste better than anything you can buy however most of us don’t have the time to knock up a batch at breakfast time and keeping a jar of readymade sauce in the refrigerator is no hardship really. Muffins are something else we wont make, we keep a batch in the freezer and defrost them as we need them, simple.
This recipe is for 1 person, increase the quantities for the number of people you are cooking for, if you want a smaller portion cook one egg instead of 2.
Ingredients
- 2 eggs poached to your taste preferably soft
- 8 – 10 baby spinach leaves
- A good dollop of hollandaise sauce
- 1 English muffin halved and toasted
- A little butter - optional
- A sprinkle of paprika - optional
Method
- Lay your muffin halves on a plate and spread with butter if you want it
- Divide the spinach between the 2 halves of the muffin
- Place 1 egg on top of each muffin
- Spoon a dollop of hollandaise on top of each egg
- Sprinkle a little paprika on top of the hollandaise sauce
- Eat and enjoy
Serving suggestions and variations
- Eggs Florentine are one of a range of similar meals. For use ham instead of spinach and you have eggs Benedict, for a more luxurious version use smoked salmon instead of the spinach and you have eggs royale.
- For a more substantial meal at lunchtime serve with a side salad
- Try using mayo instead of hollandaise, they are similar products and mayo has a less strong flavour
- Miss out the sauce and use scrambled eggs instead of poached
- Try crumpets, rye bread or a seeded bread toasted instead of the muffins
- Chop up some cress to use instead of paprika
- Watercress is a great substitute for spinach, you could also try chicory or other salad leaves.
Acknowledgements
I first tried eggs benedict at our local Sainsbury’s café. It was a lovely alternative to a full English breakfast and is something I am happy to put together for a weekend big breakfast. Eggs Floentine is something I noticed as an alternative on some menus in restaurants as a vegetarian option itr is great to have something so delicious available if you don’t want to eat meat.
You may also like to try these recipes from our collection;
- For a speacial vegetarian main meal you can't beat an Asparagus Galette, simple to make if using ready made puff pastry and our Simple Tomato Sauce
- Mashed Carrots and Swede are a true treat expecially when mixed with lots of butter!
- At the start of spring the first forced Rhubarb becomes available and this beautiful pink Rhubarb Fool is perfect for it.
If you have enjoyed this recipe,
Happy eating!