Baked Eggs Rockefeller

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a sauté pan until melted then add shallots, fennel, and garlic. Cook, stirring often until the vegetables are soft and little to no liquid remains, about 10 minutes.

Transfer the cooked vegetables to a food processor. Add the absinthe, green onions, parsley, chervil, and arugula. Process until completely smooth. Then pulse in the remaining butter until smooth. Finally, add the pork panko and Parmesan, if using, and pulse to combine. Season to taste with a bit of salt and pepper then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500ºF and grease 6, 6-ounce ramekins. Divide the vegetable puree evenly between them. Use the back of a spoon to push the filling one inch up the wall of each ramekin and lightly coat the bottom as well (you want at least 1/8-inch thick coating). Indent the bottom slightly to hold the yolk. Place the ramekins in a 9×13 inch dish and bake at 500ºF for about 10 minutes, or until beginning to brown. (You can refrigerate the vegetable filled dishes for several days – simply add a couple more minutes to the above baking time before the next step.)

Remove from oven and quickly crack eggs into each ramekin, sprinkle with salt and pepper and return to the oven for another 6-8 minutes, or until the egg whites are just opaque but still jiggle a bit when shaken. Allow to sit for 10 minutes out of the oven for carryover cooking to finish setting the whites.