Who can identify this beautiful porcelain object? It is an egg coddler similar to the ones I received as a wedding gift 40-some years ago.
After I mastered the art of cooking coddled eggs, the dish became my father's favorite breakfast food whenever he came to visit ~ two coddled eggs semi-hard, with a dollop of butter, salt & pepper served with an English muffin.
Imagine my surprise when my daughter 40 years later told me her significant other had cooked her coddled eggs in a tomato no less!
Eggs with tomatoes (Uova A Piatto Con Pomodori)
2 tsp. olive oil, 4 large tomatoes, pinch of dried oregano, fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped, salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush olive oil on an ovenproof dish. Cut tops of tomatoes off and scoop out seeds and some flesh. Sprinkle insides with a little salt, place upside down on a paper towel and drain for about 10 minutes. Season inside of tomatoes with oregano, salt and pepper. Divide olive oil among tomatoes and place them in prepared dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove dish from oven and break an egg into each tomatoe, return dish to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve. Serves four.
Credit to www.dancosta.typepad.com who followed the recipe from the Silver Spoon.

