French Toast with Spinach and Hollandaise Sauce

Savoury French toast with spinach and Hollandaise sauce puts a fancy spin to the regular eggs on toast but is an absolute breeze to make and is a healthy breakfast or brunch delight!

Naturally, when one thinks of French Toast, one tends to associate it with maple syrup, whipped cream and strawberries. But as you know by now I love savoury. There are many versions of French Toast, both sweet and savoury. My favourite is to make this savoury version with spinach, avocado and hollandaise sauce, making it a bit sophisticated. If you have not had savoury French toast before try this recipe and you will for sure be addicted.

An essential element of this savoury French toast are eggs, which add the nutritious kick. I’m sure you’ve heard eggs are a great source of protein and iron, but they’re also rich in a number of key micronutrients like vitamin A, and E. Its also a source of vitamin D, which can be quite hard to obtain from food.

No meal is complete without some veggies, so I’ve served up this savoury French toast with spinach and avocado. These add extra nutrition and freshness which complete the dish!

What is French Toast

French toast (or ‘eggy bread’ in Britain) is soft bread, soaked in beaten egg and fried in lots of butter. It can be savoury, and can be served with beans, bacon, veggies or eggs. Or it can be sweet, topped with maple syrup, whipped cream or berries. French toast is usually eaten for breakfast/brunch, but it’s too good to limit it to just one time of day.

What should French toast taste like?

Regular French toast should be soft and pillowy in the middle, but crisp, golden and buttery on the outside. Most of the time egg is mixed with milk and some seasoning (usually nutmeg or cinnamon) to make a light batter, and then the finished French toast is served with a drizzle of maple syrup and butter. Today we will season the egg and milk mixture with fresh herbs, chilli pepper flakes, grainy mustard and salt & pepper, and then we serve it with fresh spinach and hollandaise sauce.

Hollandaise Sauce and how to make it?

Hollandaise sauce is a classic creamy sauce that’s perfect for breakfast or brunch. Eggs Florentine might be one of the most iconic of breakfast and brunch meals, and the ingredient that brightens and brings the dish alive is Hollandaise sauce. It’s got the creamiest consistency and its flavors meld beautifully with ingredients such as eggs and spinach.

This sauce is wonderfully decadent, and a bit on a fancy side, many find it intimidating to make, but it’s actually very easy to make! Like many other emulsions, the fear that it will separate or not come together can be a bit nerve wracking. So today, I’ll walk you through the step by step on how to make perfect homemade hollandaise sauce.

To make this recipe, simply heat up some butter (and it needs to be hot!) and stream it into the blended egg yolk mixture to create a velvety smooth sauce.

1. Melt the butter on the stove or in a Microwave  for about 1 minute until hot.
2. Combine the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt and thyme into a high powered blender and blend for 10 seconds.
3. Slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture as the blender is running.
4. Pour the sauce into a small bowl and drizzle over your toast!

Helpful Tips and Tricks to Make Savoury French Toast:

• BREAD:.Most of the time I use thick soft white bread or brioche. Brioche is an enriched bread with butter and eggs, so it’s sweeter and more decadent than white bread. You could use any bread you wanted, really. If you’re using crusty sourdough just soak the bread in the egg for a longer time until it’s soft
• POKE HOLES IN THE SURFACE OF THE TOAST: If using frozen bread or stale while bread , just before you are ready to dip the toast in the egg batter, use a fork to poke holes across the surface. Poke each side about 5-6 times with a fork. By doing so, again it helps the toast absorb the egg mixture better. 
• SOAK AT LEAST 30 SECONDS ON EACH SIDE: Once you have beaten the egg mixture, pour it into a bowl with a flat base bottom. When making French toasts, I often use a square baking dish. That way, I can soak multiple pieces of bread at once.Soak each piece of bread at least 30 seconds on each side.
• COOK ON MEDIUM HEAT: Lastly, cook this savory French toast on medium heat. Adjust your burner as required though. You don’t want the egg wash on the outside to cook too quickly and brown too much before the inside is cooked through. At the same time, you also want to make sure you get a nice toasty crust on this French toast. 
• This savory french toast is delicious if you can get the edges of the bread to crisp up just a tad. The inside should stay nice and fluffy and soft
• Hollandaise Sauce: The key to getting the consistency right all comes down to the hot melted butter. This recipe emulsifies butter into an egg yolk and lemon juice mixture. So you want to make sure you’re streaming in butter that’s hot enough , the recipe will not emulsify with luke warm butter.

If you enjoyed this recipe you will also love our:

1. Huevos Rancheros – Spicy Mexican Eggs
2. Fried Egg with Tamarind Sauce
3. Shakshuka

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French Toast with Spinach and Hollandaise Sauce

Serves: 2 Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cooking Time: 10 Minutes 10 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

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Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup organic whole milk
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh chives, minced
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 tsp whole grain mustard
• 1/2 tsp aleppo pepper flakes
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp salted butter
• 2 slices brioche bread, or bread of your choice 
• 1 cup baby spinach leaves
• 1 avocado, sliced

For the Hollandaise Sauce

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 sprig thyme leaves
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and hot

method

1. Place eggs, milk, mustard, herbs, garlic, spices, salt, and pepper into a shallow baking dish and whisk together.
2. Place a large skillet over medium heat, add a tablespoons butter and melt. Press 2 slices of bread into the egg mixture to soak. Flip each slice and soak for about 30 seconds.
3. Carefully transfer soaked bread slices to the hot skillet and sear for 3 to 4 minutes or until nicely browned. Flip each slice and continue to cook until browned and French toast has cooked through, an additional 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Remove the French toast slices from the pan.
5. Top each serving of French toast with a handful of baby spinach and sliced avocado, sprinkle of salt and pepper and drizzle with Hollandaise sauce. Serve hot.

Instructions For Hollandaise Sauce:

1. Melt the butter on the stove for about 1-2  minute, until it's hot, making sure it doesn't brown . Alternatively, you could heat it in a microwave(make sure it's covered as it will splatter).
2. Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt and thyme into a high powered blender and blend for 10 seconds until combined
3. With the blender running on medium high, slowly stream in the hot butter into the mixture until it's emulsified. 
4. Pour the hollandaise sauce into a small bowl and serve while warm. 

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you did, take a picture and tag me on Instagram at @poetryofspices!