Oeufs en Cocotte

Ingredients

• 3/4 ozunsalted butter, for the ramekins
• 7/8 cupheavy cream
• 2 3/4 ozgruyère, finely grated
• 4eggs
• 1/4 tspnutmeg, freshly grated
• 1/4 ozchives, finely snipped
• 1/2 tspsea salt
• 1/2 tspblack pepper, coarsely ground

Method

1. 1

   Heat the oven to 355°F. Butter four ramekins generously and stand them in a deep roasting pan.

2. 2

   Bring the cream to a bare simmer with the nutmeg, salt and pepper, then take it off the heat and stir in most of the gruyère until it melts. Divide it between the ramekins.

3. 3

   Break an egg into each ramekin on top of the cream and scatter the remaining gruyère around, not over, the yolks.

4. 4

   Pour boiling water into the pan to come halfway up the ramekins and bake until the whites are just opaque and the yolks still wobble when you nudge the pan.

5. 5

   Scatter with chives and serve immediately, in the ramekins, with a teaspoon.