I was far from a fussy eater as a child but I despised eggs, well not the whole egg, I loved the gooey yellow part -but the white part...urrgh! Something about the texture ...and the smell of hard boiled eggs being peeled just put me right off from a young age. My little sister Emma was the opposite, she despised the yellow, so when we had boiled eggs on toast for dinner I would delve in and extract the yolk and pass the remainder on to her -sibling symbiosis! I think the turnaround was a few years ago when I was really sick and nothing would stay inside me, eventually I started to recover my appetite and mum made me scrambled eggs - I wolfed them down and I started to let go of my racism against the whites.

Sunday brunch has to be one of the most enjoyable meals of the week -it's a relaxed affair during which a crossword puzzle might be 're-reviewed' or a break is taken from some outdoor activity or it's simply brunch because you had a lie in and the clock says it's too late to call it breakfast. I had brought some beautiful earthy, smokey chorizo from Dublin and in my dads garden were long, dark stalks of cavolo nero begging to be pan fried with some butter...So I decided the brunch marriage had to be with a third member...the humble egg. Alas there wasn't any 'real' bread in the house so I knocked up some fresh bread sticks using Lorraine Pascales super easy recipe. And I mean it when I say 'knocked up' because this has to be the fastest yeasted recipe I've ever used....read on!

What you need;

for the bread- makes 12

450g strong white flour/ 'oo' flour
1&1/2 tsp of salt
250-275 mls tepid water
7g fast action yeast
Olive oil for brushing
Cracked black pepper, sea salt, poppy seeds -whatever takes your fancy for sprinkling

for the baked eggs- serves 4

4 eggs
300ml cream
8-10 long leaves of cavolo nero or regular kale
A knob of butter
A good hunk of chorizo
Pepper & salt

What you need to do;

bread-

Start by putting your flour and salt in a large bowl
Lorraine says to add the yeast to the flour followed by the water -I prefer to add the yeast to the water with a bit of sugar and allow to activate -just in case the yeast is a bit off at least you'll know
Mix together the flour, water and yeast and kneed for 10 mins or until the dough is springy

Divide into 12 pieces and roll into fat lengths -twist some if you like by splitting the piece into two longer lengths and twisting together

Cover with oiled cling film and allow to rest and grow for 25-30 mins in a warm place
When almost ready turn oven on to 200'C / Gas 6
Brush the dough with olive oil and sprinkle on pepper & salt, poppy seeds, sesame etc...

Bake for 15-20 mins or until browned -for some reason I have problems getting things to brown in my own oven so I pop them under a hot grill for 2/3 mins afterwards
Cool on a wire wrack

eggs-

Set oven to 180'C / Gas 4
Put a frying pan a medium high heat
Chop your chorizo into small pieces -fry on the pan until crispy
Put another frying pan on a medium heat

Slice the kale from its central stalk and chop roughly
Wilt down on a pan with butter and some olive oil, after a few mins add a splash water to aid the process
Drain the chorizo on kitchen paper to remove excess oil
Add crispy chorizo to the kale, season with pepper
Add 300mls of cream, allow to bubble for a minute or two
Divide into 4 ramekins, crack an egg into the center of each
Grate some Parmesan cheese or another hard cheese over the egg

Pop into the oven for 8-12 mins depending on how well done you like your eggs
Serve with your bread sticks or a nice thick slice of toast