Tasty Tuesday - baked eggs with potatoes and cheddar

It's time for another Tasty Tuesday link up with Lean Lena and Fairytales and Fitness.  I've been craving various egg and cheese combinations recently...maybe it's my body telling me I need more protein? No matter since there are so many delicious ways to put these two ingredients together!

This weekend I tried a recipe for baked eggs with potatoes and farmhouse cheddar from food network. It ended up being absolutely delicious, pretty easy, fairly healthy, and economical.  A win all around!

Here are the ingredients for 4 servings:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 large eggs
1 cup extra-sharp cheddar, shredded 

The recipe started out with pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees and melting the butter in a pan.  I chose to make a change and added in half a chopped onion and half a chopped bell pepper. I sautéed the veggies and then added in the potatoes. I let the potatoes cook for 15 minutes and then added the parsley, garlic (I used garlic powder), salt and pepper.  I also added in smoked paprika because I love the way it tastes with potatoes.  Well, let's be honest, I love smoked paprika with almost everything.

I took the pan off the heat and started in on the eggs.  I pushed the veggies around so there were four pockets.  I broke two eggs into a bowl, checked to make sure there were no shells, added salt and pepper, and gently put them into one of the four pockets.  I did that three more times for a total of eight eggs.

Then the pan went into the oven.  The recipe was written for the yolks to still be runny at the end but I adjusted the cooking times since I don't like runny yolks.  I cooked the dish for 15 minutes, took the pan out to top with the cheese, and then put it back in the oven for another 5 minutes.  The cheese was deliciously melted and the yolks were cooked through, just the way I like them. Definitely cook for less time if you want the runny yolks.

We had this for dinner (brinner?) but I think it would also be a great dish to serve guests for brunch or a special breakfast.