Poached eggs with yogurt is a familiar dish all over the Middle East, especially in Turkey. There are quite a few variations for the sauce itself, but in all of the recipes I have come across, the eggs are poached separately in water and only then are added to the sauce.
This recipe is different, as I’ve decided to use the yogurt itself as the poaching liquid for the eggs. Poaching the eggs in the yogurt sauce creates a completely different texture and flavor. The yogurt too changes during the cooking process: it curdles a bit and and ends up resembling a tasty fresh cheese.
To make the whole dish even more interesting and tasty, and yes, even healthier, I’ve decided to add to the sauce some steamed beet greens. They not only add flavor and texture, but also impart an interesting pinkish color.
If you like tangy flavors with your eggs, I’m quite sure you’ll love this dish.
Makes: 1-2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
About 3 cups roughly chopped beet greens and stems
½ tsp salt
1 cup Greek style yogurt, at least 2% fat
1/3 cup water
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Pinch Cayenne pepper
2 eggs, at room temperature
1. Wash and lightly drain the beet greens and place them, still wet, in a wide pot. Sprinkle with salt and cover the pot. Cook on high heat for 1 minute and reduce the heat to medium. Steam until the liquids evaporate and the greens and stems are soft but not mushy. Set aside.
2. In a medium frying pan, mix the yogurt, water, olive oil, salt, pepper and Cayenne. Bring to an almost boil on medium-high heat. Add the beet greens and cook, mixing occasionally, for about a minute. Taste and adjust seasoning.
3. Reduce the heat to medium and carefully add the eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover the egg whites part with the hot yogurt sauce, leaving only the egg yolks exposed.
Cover the pan and cook until the egg whites are cooked through and the egg yolks are still soft, about 4 minutes.
Serve immediately, with lots of fresh bread on the side.
Looks amazing Ronit! I enjoy tangy, cheesy flavors with my eggs but this recipe is so unique poaching the eggs in yogurt. Love the addition of beet greens. I can’t wait to try this.
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Thank you Jessica, I’m glad you liked the idea.
I hope you’ll try and enjoy the dish and will be happy to hear your comments. 🙂
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Yummy!
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Thank you. It was very yummy indeed! 🙂
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🙂
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You’ve done it, Ronit…you’ve introduced me to something totally new! This sounds so interesting…in a totally fabulous way. I’m a huge egg lover to begin with, especially poached. But poached in yogurt sounds great! I’m assuming this is your own, unique idea. Very impressive. Love the use of beet greens [and the color they give the dish]. The photos give it the appearance of an “almost” omelet, at least in texture. I’m pinning this one…thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Thank you Nancy! I’m glad you’ve found this somewhat “weird” recipe challenging. 🙂
I don’t recall seeing this recipe before, but I grew up eating “shakshuka” – which are eggs cooked/poached in tomato sauce – so I only replaced the tomato sauce with yogurt sauce. Then I had some steamed beet greens and it felt like a good place to add them into, and the rest is history… 😀
The egg whites are indeed fully cooked, but the egg yolks are soft and runny, and taste great with the acidity of the sauce.
I hope you’ll enjoy the results and will be happy to hear your feedback. 🙂
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I have poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce before and thoroughly enjoyed it. As for this version, I’d call it “different”, as opposed to weird, lol, and I’m certainly game for giving it try!
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You’re right, “different” is a better term than “weird”!
I hope you’ll enjoy this version as well. 🙂
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This is a new dish for me, I would have to try! Do you know if it’s a breakfast dish? All the ingredients sounds good to me !!! Thanks for sharing!
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Thank you Olga. I’m glad to hear. 🙂
The dish is very suitable for breakfast or brunch. You can prepare the beet greens beforehand, to shorten the cooking time in the morning.
I hope you’ll enjoy the results and will be happy to hear your feedback. 🙂
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This sure is a different and interesting way to poach egg.
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Thanks for your comment Norma. It is indeed different and very tasty at the same time. 🙂
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סוף סוף יש לי יום חופש, שעדיין לא קרה בו משהו רע…ויש לי קצת זמן בסבבה…והנה הסתכלתי על הבלוג שלך והכל נראה כלכך מקצועי..יוגורט בתוך חביתה?! הירקות, ואני, שסתם חביתה נראה לי מאמץ כביר – ממש משתאה על כל ההשקעה. מבחינה בודהיסטית את עושה את הדבר הכי “נכון”: עובדת וטורחת על משהו שהוא בר חלוף ולא נשמר, אלא “נעלם” תוך זמן קצר….מזכיר לי שראיתי פעם סרטון על נזירים שעסוקים ביצירת מנדלה מאבני פסיפס קטנות. נדמה לי שהם עובדים על זה בערך חודש שלם, מקפידים על כל פרט ופרט בצורה הכי איכותית ומעוררת כבוד – ואז, בטקס מיוחד -הם פשוט הורסים את הכל ומתחילים מהתחלה… וכולם מאוד מאושרים ומרוצים.
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אם אפשר להכין ביצה בשמן או במים, למה לא ביוגורט? צריך רק לחשוב מחוץ לקופסה ואז יוצאים הרבה מתכונים מעניינים.
לגבי נזירי הזן, אני מסכימה עם הגישה. בעצם היותנו בני חלוף, כל מה שאנחנו עושים הוא זמני, אבל זה לא אומר שלא צריך לעשות כל דבר הכי טוב שאפשר. זמני או לא – זה לא מה שחשוב. חשובה העשייה עצמה, והזכרונות שהיא מותירה בנו. התיעוד של הזמני הוא ניסיון לשמר את החוויה לזמן קצת יותר ארוך, ולעורר מחשבה ועשייה.
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MY PERSONAL FOOD BLOG
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is CHANGED to
“LUCACHEFITALIANO”
visit my new blog
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THANK YOU
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Wow, Ronit! I never would have thought to poach eggs in yogurt and I’m glad to learn another use for beet greens, I can only imagine how delicious the combination of flavors would be. Using yogurt in place of tomatoes, you’ve given Eggs in Purgatory a Mediterranean flair — and I like it. 🙂
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Thank you John! I’m so glad to hear you liked the idea.
I do like eggs in tomato sauce a lot, but now that I’ve experimented with the yogurt, I can say I like it even better. Well, it’s no such a surprise, as I just can’t imagine life without yogurt! 😀
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This looks amazing! Love the recipe!
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Thank you Jess. I’m really pleased to know. 🙂
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Great idea – never had poached eggs and yoghurt in one dish, and your version with additional beet greens sounds just wonderful. Will have to try that!
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Thank you Claudia. I’m glad to hear the recipe intrigued you enough to want to try it. 🙂
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I love food from Turkey and the Middle East, but don’t think I have tasted this. Looks very good. And thanks a lot for your comment, means a lot. I answer in due time..
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Thank you! This dish is actually something I made up, inspired by these kitchens.It turned out good enough to share. 🙂
No rush with answering, I could see how many comments you’ve had. Just felt the need to say I totally understand what you’re referring to…
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