Southern Eggs En Cocotte

Total Time: 30 mins
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4


• 8 ounces lamb sausage (i used a pound)


• 3 cups water


• 1 cup half-and-half


• 1 cup stone ground corn grits


• 4 ounces gruyere, grated


• 4 eggs


• kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 400 degrees.


• 2 brown sausage in a pan. drain on paper towel and reserve the grease.


• 3 while the sausage is browning, bring three cups of water and one cup of half and half to a boil.


• 4 pour one cup of grits into a bowl of water and then simply tilt the bowl and pour the water and floating bits off into the sink. scoop drained grits into the boiling milk/water mixture.


• 5 whisk boiling grits for 5 minutes and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, continue whisking. season with salt if you'd like and a few cranks of the pepper mill.


• 6 in between whisks, use the rendered sausage fat to grease 4 large individual ramekins, (gratin dishes or individual cast iron pots work too) and arrange them on a rimmed sheet tray.


• 7 divide creamy grits between the prepared baking dishes and top each with sausage and grated gruyere. make a divot in the mixture to nest the egg.


• 8 crack an egg into a small bowl and slide into the divot you made. repeat with remaining eggs.


• 9 bake until the egg whites are almost, but not fully set, about 10 to 15 minutes. for more well-done eggs, bake until the whites are set.