The Comforting Egg Dish Princess Diana Loved

From her favorite breakfast, which has since become a trendy staple, to her unexpectedly modern beverage of choice, many of Princess Diana's food preferences were well ahead of their time. However, the people's princess's timeless style effortlessly blended the contemporary and the classic, and her culinary tastes were no exception. Case in point: one of Diana's go-to meals was an old-school egg dish packed with flavor and comfort.

According to her former personal chef, Darren McGrady, one of Princess Diana's favorite lunches was a simply elegant dish called eggs Suzette. Not to be confused with the flamboyant dessert, crepes Suzette, this comforting egg preparation transforms simple, everyday ingredients into a plate fit for a princess. Eggs Suzette typically consists of a hollowed-out baked potato filled with sautéed spinach, crispy bacon, a poached egg, and a dash of hollandaise sauce, crowned by a pretty ring of piped mashed potatoes. McGrady notes that Diana would request eggs Suzette for lunch at least once a week during his time in the palace, and it's easy to see why — the combination of golden mashed potato, perfectly poached egg, spinach, silky hollandaise sauce, and crispy bacon offers an ideal balance of nutrition, comfort, and indulgence.

As Chef Darren McGrady explains in a YouTube clip, the basic formula for eggs Suzette is simple and forgiving: slice the top off a baked potato, whip up a purée with the flesh, and then pipe the purée on the edge of the potato skin shell to make a sort of mashed potato crown. Bake until golden, and then fill the shell with sautéed spinach, a poached egg, and a spoonful of superlatively smooth hollandaise sauce. Garnish it with an herbaceous scattering of green onion, tarragon, or parsley, and enjoy.

One of the best things about eggs Suzette is that it can easily be adapted to any taste. If you're feeling indulgent, add some cheese and go heavy on the crispy bacon and hollandaise sauce. If you're looking for ways to sneakily eat more veggies, take advantage of the miraculous spinach shrinkage and toss in an entire bag of greens. Plus, you can easily adapt eggs Suzette to the ingredients you have on hand — swap the spinach for a different leafy green, replace the hollandaise with another mother sauce of French cooking, and top it with whatever herbs you've got wilting in the back of your fridge. Even if (like most of us) you don't have a personal palace chef to whip it up for you, this princess-approved egg dish is certainly worth a crack.