Ingredients
- 400 g broccoli, cut into small florets
- 400 g chicken breast or thigh, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 red bell peppers, sliced into strips
- 5 eggs
- 150 ml milk
- 150 g Greek yogurt
- 200 g suluguni cheese, grated (mozzarella works too)
- Salt, black pepper, and paprika
Method
- Blanch the broccoli. Boil the florets for exactly two minutes, then lift them out to cool. Any longer and they collapse in the oven.
- Mix the filling. Whisk the eggs with the milk, yogurt, salt, pepper and paprika until smooth.
- Layer the dish. Scatter the broccoli, raw chicken and pepper strips through a baking dish, then season the layer.
- Pour and top. Pour the filling over, easing it into the gaps, and cover with the grated suluguni.
- Bake until set. Bake at 180°C for about 40 minutes, until the centre no longer wobbles and the cheese has browned in patches.
- Rest before slicing. Rest it 5 to 10 minutes out of the oven, or it weeps when you cut it.
Why it works
Baked under an egg custard, broccoli holds its shape and picks up browned edges instead of going soft the way it does in soup.
The custard is eggs, milk and Greek yogurt rather than cream, which is why it stays light and still sets firmly enough to slice. Blanching first is not optional: raw florets release water and leave you with a wet bake. Suluguni melts into strands rather than oil, and mozzarella is the closest easy substitute.