Recipe // Italian Breakfast

I live for leisurely weekend mornings, when we have nowhere to rush off to do & our only obligation is to make breakfast for our child army. But this is not about what we cook for our children, which is inevitably some variation on plain pancakes or plain bagels or plain eggs. (Le sigh.) This is about what I cook for my husband & myself, grown-up eggs with vegetables (gasp) & green stuff (double gasp) topped with spicy things. (The stuff of kid nightmares, truly.)

I’m calling this dish Italian Breakfast, even though we did not have this breakfast in Italy AT ALL. I like to think it’s the kind of breakfast Italians would make, if they were into the whole eggs & toast in the morning kind of thing.

ITALIAN BREAKFAST 🇮🇹
Serves two

• Herbed bread, cut into 4 generous slices

• Heirloom tomato, cut into 4 rounds 1/2 inch thick

• Fresh mozzarella, sliced into 4 rounds 1/4 inch thick

• Eggs, 4

• Your fanciest olive oil, for drizzling

• Fresh basil, for garnish

• Calabrian chile sauce (optional)

Heat a pot of lightly salted water to boiling. Slice toast, tomato & cheese while you wait, and crack eggs into ramekins. When water comes to a boil, immediately turn the burner down to its lowest setting and drop your eggs. Set a timer for 4 minutes. Pop your sliced bread in the toaster. 

When egg timer goes off, remove eggs to a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. To assemble, layer a slice of tomato, a slice of mozzarella & a poached egg on top of each slice of toast. Garnish with basil, drizzle with olive oil & season with Maldon sea salt & chile flakes. Top with a dollop if Calabrian chiles if you’re cool like that.