Rosemary Spaghetti Squash Egg Nests (GAPS, Paleo)

This is one of our family FAVORITES. It's as though, when I make this I can do no wrong! The nest are actually quite fun to make too. Don't be daunted by what seems like lengthy instructions. They are pretty easy to make and worth the effort for a special occasion breakfast. Which apparently means, everyday is a 'special occasion' in my house. We make these at least once a week.

Rosemary Spaghetti Squash Egg Nests 

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked spaghetti squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)

2-3 medium sized  garlic cloves, finely minced

2  medium sized  shallots finely minced

2 Tbls  olive oil

1 large egg

1 Tlbs  fresh rosemary finely chopped

1 tsp or more  salt

5 Tbls blanched almond flour (more or less, depending on the wateriness of the squash)

1 egg per nest that you make (varies depending on the size of nest, but approx. 4-6)
cracked pepper to taste

more oil for frying

Directions:

Cooking the squash:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the squash in half and clean out the seeds. Place the halves, cut side down in a large baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water at the bottom of of the dish.

How long to cook the squash will depend on it's size and season. Watch it closely while cooking, or it could become too watery. Put the squash in the oven for about 15 min. After 15 min take it out and check the spaghetti like fibers. After the first initial 15 min, continue cooking it in 10 min increments or less, checking often. You know it's ready when the strands just begin to pull apart. The squash should be very 'al dente', but cooked enough to be able to separate the strands.

Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Using a fork, pull out the spaghetti like strands. Set aside in a bowl. Can be kept in an air tight container, in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Making the nests:

Set the oven to broil, 

In a cast iron(or oven safe) skillet...over medium heat, cook the garlic and shallots in the oil. These should fry slowly till they are lightly browned. Careful not to burn them. 

Scoop them out of the pan and set aside to drain on a paper towel. Wipe out the skillet with another paper towel.

In a large bowl combine the squash, garlic, shallots, egg, rosemary, salt and almond flour. Mix well.

Heat the skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add a little oil for frying. 

Place a half cup mound of the spaghetti squash mixture into the skillet.

Working quickly, use a spoon to press and push the center of the mound, making about a 1 inch round opening. It should be slightly larger than an egg yolk.

Crack the egg into the opening. Immediately widen the circle as needed to get the egg to nestle down into the squash. If the nest seems too loose, use a spatula to draw the sides in a bit. Sometimes a little egg white over flows. This is fine. I just pull the white off from the outside of the nest as it cooks.

Assemble one nest at a time(including adding the egg), fitting about 4 nests into an average sized cast iron pan.

Continue to cook the nests until the bottom becomes crisp (but not burned). The yolks should still be mostly uncooked.

Transfer the skillet to the top rack under the broiler. Broil for for 2 1/2 to 3 min, depending on how you like your yolks. Keep a close eye on it. keep in mind that the yolk will continue to cook slightly after it is removed from the oven.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and cracked pepper. Transfer to a plate and serve. I find that a very thin metal spatula works best for transferring these.

Alternatively you could cook the nests in a pan then transfer to a cookie sheet. Then cook the remaining nests, transfer those to the cookie sheet and broil all of them a the same time. This would work great if you were making a double recipe for a crowd.