Sweet potato, shallot, spinach and mushroom breakfast skillet

I love discovering new ways to make a meal. The story behind this recipe begins 1 month ago when Mike's parents to us took us to a wonderful breakfast spot called Cafe Medina. I was aware that this was a great breakfast place for quite some time but have never gone because it is infamous for having a ridiculously long wait before getting seated. It was a special occasion so I insisted we had to try Cafe Medina. 

As expected we had to wait about an hour before getting a table. Most of the dishes served here are unique, one dish meals, prepared and served hot directly in a personal sized cast iron skillet. The downside of the menu is that most of their dishes have meat in them. Their seasonal omelet that day however was made with potato, sweet potato and feta. The dish sounded plain compared to the other menu options but I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious the dish actually was.

I never really considered making my own skillet breakfasts until very recently, flipping through some Bon Appetit magazines, I encountered three separate delicious looking breakfast skillet recipes. I didnt have any of the ingredients for the Bon Appetit magazine recipes on hand. So, I improvised a Cafe Medina inspired breakfast using the ingredients I had in my house, my usual mode of recipe invention. 

This recipe turned out amazing. The combination of sweet potato, spinach, mushroom and shallots with goat cheese went really nicely together. Also preparing this recipe was less overwhelming than trying to cook 3 seperate items of hasbrowns, eggs and vegetables for example. The 10 minute baking step gives you time to clean up and make some coffee. Also because the dish is made in a skillet it stays warm right until you are ready to eat, no need to rush to the table.

Sweet potato, shallot, spinach and mushroom breakfast skillet

Winter seasonal: mushrooms, spinach and sweet potato

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter plus 1 tsp, divided

1 small sweet potato chopped into small cubes

About 6 brown cremini mushroom

Handful chopped spinach

1 large shallot

1 garlic clove, crushed

Fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 tsp

Pinch chili flakes

Sea salt and pepper

4 free-range eggs

2 tbsp soft goat cheese

Freshly grated parmesan

*Also need a large oven-proof skillet or 2 small skillets

Directions

1 - Preheat oven to 300F.

2 - Boil sweet potatoes until just about cooked but not completely i.e. still firm. Drain well.

3 - Slice mushrooms fairly thickly and roughly chop shallot.

4 - Melt  butter in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat.

5 - Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic and sweet potatoes. Season with sea salt, freshly ground pepper and a pinch of chili flakes. 

6 - Cook until shallot is soft, and both mushrooms and sweet potato are lightly browned and thoroughly cooked through, about 10 minutes. 

7 - Add lemon juice near end when potatoes are drying out.

8 - Take skillet off of heat, stir in spinach and allow skillet to cool slightly while spinach wilts.

9 - Make 4 wells between the cooked vegetables where you will break in the eggs. Add a tiny dab of butter to each well that will keep the eggs from sticking.

10 - Carefully break open eggs and add one to each well.

11 - Crumble goat cheese over skillet and grate fresh pepper and sea salt over eggs.

12 - Place skillet in oven and cook approximately 8 minutes or until eggs are cooked to desired doneness.

13 - Add freshly grated parmesan to skillet and serve hot.