Seriously? Eggs basted in a chunky marinara sauce, with the salty goodness of Pecorino Romano cheese and pancetta.. oh and the crusty bread for sopping up every bit of goodness..
I was going to make something on the grill this weekend for the post but again the weather is crappy (no snow, but a nice thunderstorm) so that idea got nixed. It’s weird, I was totally thinking of plan B and I got a phone call from a friend saying “I have a recipe idea for you”! He started explaining these Italian Eggs that his Mom made when he was a kid. What a great idea and it sounded yummy, so why not! Heck, it is Mother’s Day tomorrow and everyone loves a great brunch to share with Mama! I had never thought about basting eggs in marinara sauce before and when the yolks get mixed in sauce, it’s kind like “oh my” delicious! Then to make it even better, you shave Pecorino Romono cheese, add the pancetta and serve it with crusty bread. Nuf said… I love it when friends call and give me a great food idea and this is certainly one of them! Oh, if you have leftover sauce, freeze it for later or put over pasta later in the week! All good!
It was another busy work week in Denver… All good stuff and the 80 sunny weather didn’t hurt either. I got some of my early season vegetables planted, played a lot of tennis outside, went to a really cool flee market and got to attend the plant sale at the Denver Botanic Gardens. One of my gardening pals invited me and my Mom to the pre-sale event. So we got to pick out the best plants before the hoards of people this weekend! Denver Botanic Gardens does everything right and this was no exception. So many great tents with everything from annuals, perennials, vegetables and even high alpine flowers! The event was even catered. So we basically shopped for flowers and drank wine. It was a great evening and a little pre-Mother’s Day fun!
Don’t forget to call your Mom, give her a hug (and one from me too) and say thanks, Mom!
- Olive oil
- 4 oz pancetta (or substitute 4 oz bacon)
- 1 medium onion, diced small
- 1 bell pepper, diced small (I used an orange pepper)
- 2 tbs garlic, minced
- 1 28 oz can tomato puree
- 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn up
- 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped fine
- Eggs
- baguette, sliced and toasted
- Pecorino Romono cheese (I used a vegetable peeler to make ribbons)
- In a large saute pan (make sure you have a lid for it or use a large soup pot) add about three tbs of olive oil. Heat up on medium and add the pancetta. Cook the pancetta until golden brown. Remove and place on paper towels. Make sure you leave the fat that rendered in the pan.
- Add the onions, pepper and garlic to the oil. Cook over medium for about 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, bay leaves and Italian seasoning. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato puree and the whole tomatoes. (Squish the whole tomatoes with your hands before adding to the sauce). Add the remaining sauce from the whole tomato can.
- Cover and simmer over low for at least a half hour and up to two hours. Stir in the fresh basil and the parley.
- When ready to assemble, have the bread toasted. I put mine on a grill pan, and toasted on both sides.
- This is enough sauce for up to 8 eggs. So decide how many eggs that you want to make. I only needed to make 2 eggs, so I transferred a cup of the sauce to a smaller pan. You can decide how many eggs that you want to make but figure one cup of sauce for every two eggs.
- Place the eggs directly on top of the marinara sauce, cover and cook over medium low heat for roughly 5 minutes until the eggs are cooked (see picture below).
- To serve, plate the eggs with the marinara, crusty bread, reserved pancetta and Pecorino Romono cheese. Add more fresh basil and parsley if you wish.
Just put your eggs over the hot marinara sauce, cover and watch the magic happen.
Almost ready…
Because everyone should have pygmy goats and we should all walk them like dogs… Seriously, these “kids” are house trained…
One of the nifty things that I saw at the flee market this morning! I wish that I could be so clever!
One of many tents for of plants for sale. This was a great event for people who love to garden! Wow! So much to choose from and so little time!
A couple of the pretty plants that I got at the sale. I can’t wait to plant them next week!