Idaho® Potato Hash Brown Baskets with Baked Quail Eggs
Ingredients:
- 2 medium Idaho® Russet potatoes
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more for serving
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¼ cup prepared pesto
- 12 quail eggs
- Equipment: mini muffin tin
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wash the potatoes and prick each a few times with a fork. Bake the potatoes until they start to soften but are definitely not completely done, about 20 minutes. Let cool about half an hour. (This can be done a day ahead of time.) Leave the oven on.
- Grate the semi-baked potatoes with a hand-held grater - peel them first if you like, although it’s not necessary. In a medium bowl put the grated potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper, and butter; toss well to combine.
- Spray the mini muffin tin with nonstick spray. Using about 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture for each mini muffin cup, press the potato mixture into the muffin cups, making a well in the center and pushing the potatoes up and over the sides of the cup (they will shrink in the oven).
- Bake the hash brown “baskets” 20-30 minutes, until the undersides are deep golden brown and the tops are at least light golden and starting to crisp around the edges. Again, leave the oven on.
- Remove the baskets from the oven. Put a small dollop of pesto into each cup, then crack a quail egg on top of the pesto. Put the baskets back in the oven for exactly 5 minutes; you want the whites of the quail eggs cooked but the yolks still very runny.
- Use an offset spatula to put the hash brown baskets on a serving plate. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.