Eggs in Purgatory (from The Good Egg)

I've made eggs in purgatory before. For that one, I followed the America's Test Kitchen recipe. And it was delicious! But, because I can be a bit of a completionist sometimes, I wanted to try the eggs in purgatory recipe that shows up in The Good Egg. It uses a lot less garlic and pepper flakes and more tomato, but no tomato paste. I think I prefer the ATK version overall; Simmons rendition is much milder and not as punchy. They both make for a nice breakfast though. And I appreciated her suggestion to add a bit of sausage to the mix. If you like more subtle flavours, then this might be the recipe for you. Otherwise, I recommend going with the ATK version and just adding a bit of sausage to it if that moves you.

Eggs in Purgatory

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg

Ingredients

• 2 (800mL) cans of tomatoes (whole or diced)
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped (~1/2 c.)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 250g Italian sausage, casings removed (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. (or more) red pepper flakes¹
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 8 large eggs²
• 8 slices toast (preferrably made with Italian bread)
• grated romano, to serve

Directions

1. Pass the tomatoes (and their juices) through a food mill and discard the solids.³
2. Heat the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for another minute or so.
5. Add the sausage (if using) and cook for 4-5 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks.
6. Add the tomatoes, parsley, basil, and oregano and bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat slightly and simmer, uncovered, until thickened (40-50 minutes).
8. Stir in the salt and pepper and adjust seasonings to taste.
9. Make a well in the sauce, break and egg into a cup, and then carefully pour the egg into the sauce well.
10. Repeat with 3 more eggs.
11. Cover and cook until eggs reach desired doneness (4-6 minutes).
12. Place a slice of toast on a soup plate or shallow bowl, place an egg on top, surround with extra sauce, and top with cheese.
13. Repeat the cooking and serving process with the remaining 4 eggs or save the remaining sauce and cook more eggs fresh the next day.

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¹ The original recipe only calls for 1/4 tsp. of pepper flakes, but I found that left the sauce with only the tiniest hint of detectable heat, so I doubled the quantity. Even with 1/2 tsp. it was still very mild with only a gentle bit of spice, but it was enough to at least register as having spice. She suggests passing pepper flakes at the table for people who want more heat, but I would be inclined to add even more chile flakes to the sauce itself next time. Follow your heart. ^Back
2 Apparently this amount of sauce is meant to be for only 4 eggs, but it makes a HUGE quantity -- especially if you add the sausage! -- so I've suggested more eggs to balance things out. I get the impression that Simmons' version is meant to be almost like a tomato soup with some egg and toast in rather than eggs on toast with a bit of sauce. That said, I did skip the food mill step. I know that discarding the tomato solids would have cut down on the sauce volume, but I still think that there would've been enough sauce for at least six or eight eggs! ^Back
3 Full disclosure: I totally skipped this step. I just used two cans of diced tomatoes and mashed them up a bit as they cooked because a) I don't have a food mill and b) I hate to throw away the solids. I know it changes the texture of the sauce and the proprotions of the ingredients a bit, but I didn't mind the chunky sauce and seasonings can always be adjusted. Feel free to swap in crushed tomatoes instead of whole or diced if you want a smoother sauce, but also don't want to both with a food mill. You can also use an immersion blender to puree the tomatoes right in the can. I probably should've done that for mine, but I forgot it was an option until just now. Whoops! ^Back