Egg In A Squash Hole - A delicious, healthy, fun gluten-free breakfast the whole family will enjoy. These eggs are baked sunny side up in the oven, which makes it quick, and easy to clean up.
After nearly eight years of living in Sweden, the food scene has improved tremendously in all but one department: squash.
If you like butternut squash, no problem. If you want any kind of squash that is not butternut, well, you're likely out of luck. Unless, that is, you are lucky enough to find a carnival squash like the one below, and, friends, the only place you can find a carnival squash is at the florist for $10-15 a pop. It's squash-less insanity!
Kale used to be in dire scarcity and now it's literally everywhere. But kale is trendy. So, we need to start a global squash trend, okay? I think that will help.
To kickstart the global squash trend, I've dug deep in to The HNL archives and freshened up an old and sadly neglected post: Egg in a Squash Hole!
What's in Egg-In-A-Squash-Hole?
This recipe requires a total of two ingredients. Ok, five if you include salt and pepper. You're gonna need:
- A winter squash
- Eggs
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
That's it!
Remember egg-in-a-hole where you cut out circle in the center of a piece of bread and fried an egg in it? That always blew my mind as a kid. The idea here is similar, but perhaps a bit more grown up.
Instead of bread, we're roasting rings of squash. Good news - the butt end of a butternut squash works great for this! But you can put lots of other squash varietals into play as well. Acorn would be great (and pretty, with the ruffled edges) or even a small pumpkin would be fine. It just has to have a hole in it big enough to accommodate an egg.
How do you make Egg-In-A-Squash-Hole?
First you've gotta roast up your rings of squash. I took the skin off to make eating easier, but you can totally leave the skin on as well. A little brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and into the oven they go.
You're gonna roast your squash rings for about 10 minutes. Then you're gonna flip them, and carefully crack an egg into the hole. I like to brush the parchment with a little extra olive oil before the egg goes in, but it's probably not totally necessary.
You might have some egg overflow. Don't panic. You can either trim it off before serving, or you can embrace life's little imperfections. You can see which route I chose.
The egg + squash is going back into the oven for about 12 minutes. At this point the white should be firmed up, and your yolk should have a bit of jiggle going on. You can obviously cook longer if you like a firm egg, or less if runny is your style. I'm a medium-done egg person my self, and 12 minutes was just right.
Serve with hot, buttery toast if you like, or you can just freestyle with squash on a plate. I think these egg in a squash hole's would be a fun thing to serve for weekend brunch. A sprinkle of salt with the sweetness of the squash hits those salty-n-sweet notes in just the right way for brunch, and they're fun to look at - and to eat!
Honestly, they're not a lot of work. You can totally roast the squash rings in advance to and be slinging out egg in a squash hole in a matter of a dozen minutes or so.
What kind of squash is best for this recipe?
Anything with an egg-sized hole will do! Butternut, acorn, or a small pumpkin would all work.
Can I make this recipe in advance?
You can roast the squash rings in advance, but the egg part is best baked at the last minute.
Is this recipe gluten-free?
Yup! Choose a gluten-free bread if you want to serve it with toast on the side.
Is this recipe Whole 30 compliant?
You bet your booty it is!
Hey Nutrition Lady, what's the deal with eggs?
Eggs are a natural, nutrient-rich whole food and an amazing source of high quality protein. Eggs contain all 8 B-vitamins, along with folic acid. Vitamin B12 and choline are particularly abundant in eggs.
But what about cholesterol? Well, several large-scale studies conducted recently have suggested that the cholesterol content of eggs in relation to heart disease may be less of a concern than previously thought.
Is one part of an egg better than the other? As it turns out, the nutrients found in an egg are distributed fairly evenly between the white and the yolk. The white has more protein, magnesium, potassium, and B3, whereas the yolk has more omega-3 fatty acids, folate, choline, B12, and fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, K.
Other winter squash recipes you might enjoy:
Baked Pumpkin Risotto
Roasted Acorn Squash Salad
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut, Miso, and Lime
Butternut Squash and Black Bean Freezer Burritos
Egg In A Squash Hole
Ingredients
- 4 rings winter squash eg butternut or acorn
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F / 200°C
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Brush rings of squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange on a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake the squash rings for 10 minutes. At this point they should be fork tender, but not soft.
- Remove the squash from the oven, and using a spatula, carefully flip them over. Brush the parchment paper in the center of the squash rings with olive oil.
- Crack one egg into a small bowl, and carefully slide into the center of a squash ring. Repeat with remaining eggs.
- Place the tray into the oven and bake for 12 minutes, until the egg white is set and the yolk has just a bit of jiggle left.
- Remove from the oven, and using a thin wire spatula carefully transfer the squash rings with baked eggs onto plates.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Nutrition Values are an estimate only
- What kind of squash is best for this recipe? Anything with an egg-sized hole will do! Butternut, acorn, or a small pumpkin would all work.
- Can I make this recipe in advance? You can roast the squash rings in advance, but the egg part is best baked at the last minute.
Nutrition
Originally published October 28, 2013. Recipe re-tested, updated, and most recently updated October 23, 2018.
Camilla
What a great idea!
ayna
that is very brilliant idea! i love it..thanks for sharing...
https://thestoryofayna.blogspot.com/
Tessa
So, when I overeat, my recovery could be just protein and veggies? And I can actually eat as many as two eggs per day, should I want to? I am still thinking the old Canada Food Guide, and 'must limit eggs'. Love those eggs!
Don't go to Portugal for the vegetables. I know they must have them in abundance, but where?
themuffinmyth
To be clear, I'm not saying that it's okay to over eat and there is an easy antidote in protein and veggies. I'm saying I ate an insane amount of white bread while in Spain, which definitely de-stabilizes the blood sugar, and this combo of produce and protein in pretty much all I want right now. Though I have started to bring some whole grains back into the picture by this point. I eat 1-2 eggs a day usually. If you don't have a problem with high cholesterol it's totally fine. Look at the eggs section of 'know what you're eating' and it references a study where people eat eggs for breakfast daily and see no notable increase in blood cholesterol.
Dimple@shivaaydelights
I love this! Thank you so much for sharing!
themuffinmyth
You're so welcome!
Sandra
Love this idea...how much fun! We are also watching breaking bad on Netflix...half way through the last season and I can't get enough.
themuffinmyth
We're in about the same place! Unfortunately the 2nd half of the last season isn't available here yet, but hopefully soon!
Jess
Oh how I love these! As a kid "toads in the hole" were one of my favorite breakfasts, but what a nice twist. This is my kind of dinner. (I do wonder if it's a kabocha squash... definitely looks like the ones we get here so frequently.)
themuffinmyth
I think it is kabocha, or a hybrid. I looked it up on a squash reference site and it could have been one of three, so I can't be 100% sure, but whatever it was, it was good!
kellie@foodtoglow
Really great idea, Katie. I feel your pain about Spain, but will add Portugal to that list. I went to a conference in Oporto back when I was a strict vegetarian and the only thing on offer was tortilla or a salad with boiled eggs. I'm surprised I can still eat eggs! My husband joined me there for an extended break and we ended up eating fish to keep me from going insane. That was the slippery protein slope...
themuffinmyth
The eggs didn't drive me insane so much - I would have been glad if there were more available, but it was all of the white bread. Too much! Definitely stockpiling on protein and greens right now!