One of my favourite 'comfort in a bowl’ dishes is brothy butter beans and eggs. I love making them with garlicy greens and lemon, or a thick tomato-based sauce. So comforting and nourishing. For this week's new recipe I've used fennel, lemon, and rosemary. Rather than cooking the eggs directly in the brothy sauce (as I normally would) these eggs are pan-fried in smokey paprika butter. Super delicious and the perfect contrast to the fennel and beans.
Feel free to use any woody herb in this dish, sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc. I’ve used rosemary as I have an abundance of it in my garden but I also often use thyme.
You want a little bite to the fennel so be sure to cook it until it's just tender (and not mushy). This will also help keep a nice balance of textures in the dish.
You'll also see in the video that I squash some of the beans into the broth. This helps to create a deliciously creamy thick brothy sauce.
You’re going to love this one! It's so easy and simple to make, yet layered with so much flavour and texture. It makes the perfect breakfast, lunch, or speedy dinner dish.
Enjoy the recipe, and as always, please let me know if you make it @gatherandfeast, and feel free to ask any questions.
Ingredients
Vegetarian 
5 minutes prep time + 15 minutes cooking time 
2 Fennel & Butter Beans
- 15g Westgold salted butter (or butter of choice)
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves (or another woody herb like thyme, oregano, sage, etc)
- 1 medium-sized head of fennel, sliced into roughly 1cm thick slices (keep a few green fronds aside for garnishing)
- 2 cloves garlic, finely grated or crushed
- 1 x 400g can butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 250ml chicken or vegetable stock/broth
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Generous squeeze of lemon juice (roughly half a small lemon)
- Freshly grated parmesan
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Smokey Paprika Butter-Fried Eggs
- 20g Westgold salted butter (or butter of choice)
- 1 teaspoon smokey paprika
- Pinch of chili flakes to your taste
- 4 eggs
- Flakey sea salt
Method
- Add the butter to a large saucepan and melt slightly.
- Add the sliced fennel and rosemary leaves and sauté on high heat for a minute or two.
- Next add the garlic, butter beans, and a pinch of salt.
- Sauté for a minute or so to soften the garlic.
- Now add the stock/broth, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer.
- Next, add the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of half a lemon.
- Roughly squash 1/4 of the beans into the stock to help create a creamy brothy sauce.
- Simmer until the fennel is just tender.
- Add a little freshly grated parmesan and stir through.
- Taste for salt and add accordingly.
- Scoop into 2 serving bowls and set aside.
- Using the same pan, on medium heat, add the butter, along with the smokey paprika, chili flakes, and a pinch of salt.
- Stir to combine the smokey paprika and chili flakes into the butter.
- Crack in the eggs and cover the saucepan with a lid.
- Cook the eggs to your desired softness.
- Remove the lid and scoop the eggs onto the plated fennel and bean mixture.
- Scoop and drizzle any remaining smokey chili butter into the bowls.
- Top with fennel fronds and some freshly cracked black pepper.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
