James Martin's Slow-Roasted Tomatoes with Thyme, Bacon & Poached Eggs

65 minutes

Serves 4

James says "Everybody knows I love my garden. My grandparents used to have an allotment and their tomatoes made me fall in love with food. The first thing I did when I bought my house was to build a greenhouse so I could grow my own, but I’m also lucky enough to have Isle of Wight tomatoes readily available to me, which are some of the best tomatoes in the world."

James Martin’s Saturday Morning by James Martin (Quadrille, £25). Photography by Dan Jones.

Ingredients

8 Isle of Wight tomatoes, halved

4 sprigs of thyme

25ml olive oil

8 slices of smoked back bacon

1 tablespoon maple syrup

4 large eggs

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 slices of sourdough, toasted and buttered, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 1500C/130º fan.

Place the halved tomatoes onto a baking tray, sprinkle over the thyme sprigs, drizzle over the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop into the oven to slow roast for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over a high heat, cook the bacon until crispy, drain off all the excess fat, then drizzle over the maple syrup. Keep warm.

To poach the eggs, bring a deep pan of water to the boil, turn down the heat slightly and whisk the water to create a whirlpool. Drop the first egg into the water and cook for 2–3 minutes, then lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the remaining eggs, then plunge all 4 into boiling water for 30 seconds to reheat just before serving.

Arrange the bacon and tomatoes on top of the toast, then finish with the eggs and serve.