Kabanos, or kabanosy in the plural, is a variety of Polish pork sausage that is usually quite dry in texture, smoked (therefore cooked and ready to eat) and flavoured with caraway seeds. They were my favourite snack as a child, grabbed straight from the fridge and eaten with gusto. They can also be eaten hot: when heated, their smoky flavour really comes through. I tend to use kabanos in any recipe that calls for chorizo or pancetta, to make Polish versions of many popular Spanish and Italian dishes. If you can’t find kabanosy, you can use most types of Polish sausage, more generally known as kiełbasa. If you are short on time and don’t want to use the oven, you can finish cooking the eggs in the pan. I like to serve these baked eggs still in the pan, with plenty of buttered rye bread on the side.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 3½ oz (100 g) kabanos, sliced on the diagonal
- 3 oz (85 g) ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
- ¾ oz (20 g) fresh spinach
- 4 eggs
- freshly ground black pepper
- buttered bread, preferably rye, to serve
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.
- Using a pan that is safe to go into the oven, heat the oil and cook the kabanos for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice until the edges start to brown. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes, then add the spinach.
- Take the pan off the heat and crack in the eggs, leaving a bit of space round the eggs to make them easier to serve. Season with pepper.
- Put the pan in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 6–8 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny. Alternatively, cover the pan with a lid and cook over a low heat for 3 minutes. Serve with buttered bread.
