One Pan Egg Bake {breakfast}

Not every morning am I quite this ambitious {the last 12 weeks have been mostly cereal}, but this morning I was up before the little one so I had some time to put something really yummy together.
This is my first time writing up a recipe...I'm usually a dash of this-sprinkle of that, kind of cook. The great thing is that this recipe should be really flexible and easy to mix up with whatever ingredients you have on hand!

ONE PAN EGG BAKE

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp- Bacon grease( or olive oil )- enough to cover bottom of skillet
2 cups- Frozen Hash browns
Salt/pepper
6 -eggs
1 tbsp -water
1 cup -fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup -Parmesan cheese

So I love cooking in a cast iron skillet- this pretty little number was one I got for the hubs at Christmas! They are great to use because they distribute the heat evenly, are practically nonstick and can go from stove top to oven!

To get started, first preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then melt some bacon grease in the skillet over medium heat. I used enough to make sure there was a thin even layer covering the bottom of the pan- 2-3 tbsp. This is a crucial step to help the hash browns form a crust. No bacon grease?? If you don't have bacon grease just lying around like I do, this is a good time to cook up some bacon to use in the bake or to eat on the side. See, problem solved! (you can also substitute olive oil or butter if you want!) After the grease was heated thoroughly I added my hash browns. I added enough to cover the pan in a thin layer- 2 cups. I spread them out quickly with a wooden spoon, sprinkled them with salt and pepper and then I STOPPED touching them! Yes...I said stop...as in put down the wooden spoon! You want them to form a nice brown crust! Playing with them will just create a gloppy mess...trust me...I have had this happen.

This is a great time to put together your egg mixture. I used a combo of duck and chicken eggs this morning- 2 duck and 2 chicken. This is approx 5-6 eggs. This step I would use at least one egg per person you are feeding, plus an additional egg for good measure. I beat my eggs in a small bowl with a Tbsp of water. I like using water to loosen up the egg a bit to make it easier to pour. Salt and pepper your eggs at this point. I also took this time to chop up some fresh spinach and get out my Parmesan cheese.

When I could see that my hash browns were starting to be very brown, I poured in half the egg mixture. It should spread on its own, try to not to disturb the hash browns. I evenly sprinkled on the chopped fresh spinach, followed by the last half of the egg mixture. Last I topped the whole thing with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese! Stick the pan in the the oven for about 20 mins, or until the eggs have set and the cheese has browned.

After removing it from the oven I let it sit for a few minutes to let everything relax a bit. Now its time to slice and serve!  Its that easy! You can add almost any ingredient you could think of. Get creative...if you would put it in an omelet you can put it in this bake!

Hope you try this recipe! Maybe this weekend would be a good time! I would love to hear what variations you come up with so feel free to come back and comment! I might just feature your concoction on my blog!!

{Amber}