The addition of spicy harissa to the already colourful flavour and texture combination of green avocado, bright orange butternut squash and eggs, is the ideal way to marry all of these vegetarian ingredients together. It’s rich and tangy in flavour, but the mellowness of the other ingredients contrasts well.
2 tablespoons harissa paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
550 g/1 lb 3 oz. butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped into 2-cm/¾-inch cubes
1 ripe avocado, peeled, stoned/pitted and thinly sliced
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
60 g/½ cup stoned/pitted black olives
15 cherry tomatoes
4 eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
SERVES 2
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
Stir together the harissa paste and olive oil in a large bowl then toss in the butternut squash and stir again to coat the squash.
Put the butternut squash on a sheet pan with sides and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the avocado and squeeze over the lemon juice to prevent it from turning brown. After 30 minutes, add the olives, tomatoes and avocado to the butternut squash and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Make four wells in the vegetables and crack in the eggs. Bake for another 6–9 minutes until the egg whites are cooked. Season with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.
M: Breakfast Sheet Pan with Chorizo & Eggs
For a meat version, omit the olives and add a 200–250-g/7–8 oz. package (about 10–12) of Spanish mini cooking chorizo. Add these to the baking sheet with the tomatoes and avocado. (If the chorizo you are using is particularly spicy, reduce the amount of harissa paste in the main recipe to 1 tablespoon.) Finish as main recipe.
Looking for more adaptable recipes designed for part-time vegetarians and vegans? Make sure you check out The Flexitarian Cookbook. To get more great blog posts like this one - direct to your inbox – be sure to sign up to our mailing list here.