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1
Build the sofrito: warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat, add the onion and cook until softened and translucent. Add the garlic, cook one minute more, then stir in the pimentón. Add the tomatoes and cook down to a thick, cohesive sauce. The sofrito is ready when the oil begins to separate at the edges and the mixture holds its shape when a spoon is drawn through it.
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2
Stir the chorizo and jamón serrano into the sofrito and cook briefly until the chorizo releases its fat into the sauce and the edges of the meat colour. Remove from the heat.
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3
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Divide the sofrito and meat mixture equally among four individual earthenware cazuelas. Place the cazuelas directly over a medium flame or in the oven to bring the base to a vigorous heat — the sauce must be actively simmering before the eggs are added. A cold base will prevent the whites from setting evenly.
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4
Arrange the pre-cooked peas, asparagus spears, and sliced roasted red peppers around the perimeter of each cazuela in the traditional manner — the coloured vegetables at the border, the centre left clear for the eggs. The visual order is not decorative convention alone; it keeps the garnishes from being disturbed by the cracking of the eggs.
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5
Crack two eggs into the centre of each cazuela. Place immediately in the 200°C oven. Bake for 6–8 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: the whites must be fully set and opaque, and the yolks must remain runny and domed. Begin checking at 6 minutes — the whites should show no translucence when the dish is tilted, while the yolk should tremble visibly when the cazuela is nudged.
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6
Remove from the oven and carry directly to the table without delay. Residual heat in the earthenware will continue cooking the yolk; it will be overdone within 2 minutes of leaving the oven. The dish is served in the cazuela in which it was cooked.