DAILY DINNERS

The egg can be substituted with feta or any other young and salty white cheese.

1. Preheat oven to 210C/ Fan 190C/ Gas 6. In a large bowl, mix together the peppers and onions with the thyme leaves, ground spices, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Spread out in a roasting tin and roast for 33 minutes, stirring a couple of times during cooking. The vegetables should be soft and sweet but not too crisp or brown as they will get further cooking. (As you see on the photo above, these were left in a little too long). Remove from the oven and stir in half of the fresh herbs. Set aside. Turn the oven up to 220C/ Fan: 200C/ Gas 7.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to about 3 mm thick and cut out four 15 x 15cm squares. Prick all over with a fork and place the squares, spaced well apart, on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

3. Remove the pastry from the fridge and brush the top and sides with beaten egg, using a palette knife or the back of a spoon, spread half a tbsp of soured cream over the pastry squares, leaving a 0.5cm border around the edges. Arrange 3 tbsp of the pepper and onion mixture on top of the soured cream, leaving the borders clear to rise. It should be spread fairly evenly but leave a shallow well in the middle to break an egg into later on.

4. Bake the galettes for 14 minutes. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and carefully crack a whole egg into the well in the centre of each pastry. Return to the oven and cook for another 7 minutes, until the eggs are just set. Sprinkle with cracked black pepper and the remaining herbs. Serve at once.