A riff on Eggs Benedict, toasted English Muffins are topped with wilted fresh spinach, poached eggs and a simple mushroom gravy spiked with just enough fresh thyme to get your attention. Try Eggs Benedict Florentine next time you’re craving a luscious breakfast.
Never has the sense of accomplishment felt as good as it did the day I successfully poached my first egg.
A project that didn’t feel natural, a project that seemed impossible, and a project that took a little practice.
I’ve fried, I’ve hard boiled, I scrambled a million eggs in my lifetime, but dropping a raw egg into boiling water seemed a tad daunting. Needless to say, I felt anxious.
I read, I studied, and I even purchased silicone cups that floated on top of boiling water to cradle and protect the delicate egg from the dangerous waters. It worked, but the end result looked very unnatural.
I had to learn how to poach eggs. And with just a couple, or so, disasters, I learned that it’s quite easy. If you have poached egg anxiety, take a look at my post about How To Poach Eggs. I hope you’ll give it a try.
I hope you give it a try so you can make this recipe for Eggs Benedict Florentine.
Eggs Benedict is hands down my absolute favorite breakfast.
The combination of the texture of a toasted English muffin with a delicate poached egg and creamy decadent Hollandaise sauce is simply irresistible to me.
And I love trying new versions of the breakfast classic. Enter my latest creation for Eggs Benedict Florentine.
How To Do Eggs Benedict – The Timeline
Let me start by saying this recipe takes around thirty minutes, start to finish. And if you have all your ducks in a row, it’s a simple breakfast to prepare.
The problem I used to have with Eggs Benedict was one of timing.
Making the sauce, toasting the muffin and poaching that eggs so that they all come together at the same time can be a juggling act if you ask me.
Let’s get started:
For this recipe, you’ll need two pans. A fry pan and a sauce pan.
- Have a dinner plate on standby (preferably warmed).
- Place English muffins into the toaster, but don’t toast them yet.
- Break eggs into a small bowl so that you can gently drop them into the simmering water when ready (cook the eggs one at a time).
- In the fry pan, saute the sliced mushrooms for about seven minutes.
- With a slotted spoon remove the mushrooms to the dinner plate.
- Add the spinach. Cook for only 30 – 45 seconds, stirring constantly. You don’t want the spinach to shrivel up to nothing, you just want to wilt it.
- Remove the spinach to the plate beside the mushrooms. Keep warm.
- In the same fry pan, add butter.
- Once butter melts, add the flour and cook for two minutes.
- Add milk and cook until thickened, stirring often. This will take about five minutes. Keep warm on stovetop with heat on the lowest setting.
- In the meantime fill the saucepan about 2/3 full with water. Heat over medium high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down so water is only simmering.
- Add vinegar to water and with a spoon create a tornado of a swirl.
- Drop one egg into the water.
- Start the English Muffins toasting. Once they’re done, leave in the toaster to them keep warm.
- Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and let the water drain.
- With the other hand, slide the second egg into swirling water. (juggling act)
- Build the Eggs Florentine Benedict by placing the spinach on the toasted English Muffin, carefully add the poached egg, then top with the mushroom gravy.
Done! Dig in.
Making Eggs Benedict for Several People
Culinary School Tip: When making Eggs Benedict for a group, use a Hotel Pan to poach the eggs stovetop. A Hotel Pan is simply one of those stainless steel pans you see being used at a buffet line, in a stand, with a burner underneath to keep food hot. A chafing dish.
They are used by restaurant and catering companies and are sometimes referred to as “steam table pans,” “service pans” or “counter pans.”
Just heat the water in a hotel pan stovetop. You won’t be able to swirl the water, and thats ok. When the water is hot enough, you can poach up to a dozen eggs at once. Actually I surprised myself by single handedly cooking poached eggs for twenty one morning.
I’ve included an Amazon link for the hotel pan if you want to see what they look like. I’m a member of the Amazon Affiliate Program. If you purchase that Hotel Pan through this link, I receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.
Recipe for Eggs Benedict Florentine
I hope you give this Eggs Benedict recipe a try. And if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a unique Eggs Benedict combination, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Eggs Benedict Recipes
And if you love breakfast as much as we do, don’t miss my Breakfast Category. You’ll find lots of eye opening recipes including the most popular breakfast recipe on my site for Breakfast Burritos Smothered with Hatch Green Chile Sauce.
Eggs Benedict Florentine with Mushroom Thyme Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms cleaned and sliced. I like baby bellas for this.
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt to taste
- 2 cups fresh spinach tough stems removed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried
- Salt and pepper
- 2 large eggs fresh as possible
- 1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
- 1 English Muffin
Instructions
- Heat a large fry pan over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is shimmering, add the mushrooms. Salt them and cook them until they are starting to brown and moisture had been drawn out. About 7 minutes. Stir the mushrooms several times.
- With a large spoon, remove the mushrooms to a plate and keep warm.
- Add the fresh spinach to the same hot pan. Stir briskly, only cooking for about 30 seconds. The spinach will wilt without shriveling to a soggy stage. Place the wilted spinach next to the mushrooms on the plate and keep warm.
- Add the butter to the same pan. Once the butter has melted, add the flour. Stir quickly until well combined. Let this mixture cook over medium heat for about a minute. This will slightly toast the flour mixture, adding some color and flavor and remove the flour taste.
- Add the milk. Cook stirring until mixture has thickened and resembles a thin gravy.
- Add most of the mushrooms back into the gravy, stir and keep warm.
- Place the eggs in two separate small bowls.
- Add water to a small sauce pan. Add enough water so that about 2/3 of the pan is full. When the water starts to simmer, add the vinegar.
- With a spoon, stir the simmering water so that the water is at a quick swirl. Gently lower one egg into the water.
- Toast the English Muffin but leave in the toaster to keep it warm until you're ready to use.
- Cook the egg at a low simmer for 3-ish minutes.
- With a slotted spoon remove the egg and let it drain. I just hold it over the sink.
- Take one of the English Muffin halves from the toaster and place it on a plate. Top it with half the wilted spinach. Place the poached egg on top of the spinach and then top it generously with the gravy. Garnish with fresh thyme, paprika and more of the mushrooms.
- Repeat with the other egg to make the 2nd serving.
