One of my top tips is always to keep some vegetable stock in the fridge. The water in which potatoes or carrots have been cooked is fine or even the sieved liquid from simmering stalks or outside leaves of vegetables that would otherwise have been discarded. An overripe tomato could be added too.  

Inspired by Yotam Ottlenghi in his book, Simple, this is a lovely dish to serve for brunch or a light lunch.  

30g butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted and coarsely crushed

2 large leeks, trimmed and cut into 1 cm rounds

200g baby spinach, washed and dried

300ml vegetable stock

½ – 1 tsp sumac

4 eggs

60g feta, broken into 2 cm pieces

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Put the butter and one tablespoon of the oil into a large sauté pan with a lid. When the butter has melted and is foaming, add the leeks and season well with salt and pepper. Fry for about three minutes, stirring frequently, until the leeks are soft but not coloured. Add the crushed cumin. 

Add the vegetable stock (YO also adds chopped preserved lemon peel at this stage) and boil until the liquid has almost evaporated. 

Add the spinach, and gently stir around until wilted. Turn down the heat. 

Make four indentations in the mixture and break one egg into each. Dot the feta around.

Put on the lid and cook on a medium heat until the white of the eggs is set but the yolks are still runny.   Sprinkle the remaining olive oil on top of the eggs and shake over the sumac (YO uses za’atar).

Serve from the pan.