Eggs En Cocotte with Tomato and Goat Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing ramekins and drizzling
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 medium clove garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 can peeled whole tomatoes, drained and crushed by hand
• 1 rosemary sprig
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 1 ounce goat cheese, crumbled
• Boiling water
• Toasted bread, for serving

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Warm the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until they have softened, about 4 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and rosemary, then continue cooking and stirring until the sauce tightens up, about 4 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper, take the pan off the heat, and remove the rosemary sprig.
2. Coat 4 (4-ounce) ramekins with olive oil. Dust the bottom and side of each lightly with salt. Spoon in just enough tomato mixture to cover the bottom of each ramekin in a thin, even layer. Make a round well in the middle of the tomato mixture in each ramekin so the egg yolk has a neat little place to land.
3. Carefully slip an egg into each ramekin. Scatter the crumbled goat cheese around the eggs, then add salt and pepper. Set the ramekins in a baking dish and move the dish to the oven. Carefully add enough boiling water to the baking dish to come 3/4 of the way up the sides of the ramekins. Bake the eggs en cocotte until the whites have barely set and the yolks still wobble, about 15 minutes. Take the baking dish out of the oven with extra care.
4. With tongs and a very thin metal spatula, lift the ramekins out of the hot water. Rest them on a clean kitchen towel so the bottoms can dry, then move them to plates. Finish with a drizzle of fresh olive oil and serve immediately with toasts.