- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Difficulty:
easy
- Serves:
1
Eggs In Tomato Sauce
Description
My mum would make it when the mercury took a swan dive or when I was ill. It was something her Italian friend's grandmother made when my mum visited one summer, a long time ago. But it's most likely a dish that is made just about everywhere around the Mediterranean basin: the Turks call it Menemen, or vegetable and egg ragout (with lots of Aleppo pepper). We call it tomato tamago, but whatever its name, it's delicious.
The only 'rule' to this dish would be to keep the tomato sauce chunky and flavourful: at the height of summer, you can let the tomatoes and whichever other vegetable inspires you to shine in their natural state, enhancing them with a few torn leaves of basil or oregano, but in the midst of winter, add as many spices as you dare. In fact, I often like to purge my spice cabinet when I make eggs in tomato sauce. Most spices have healthful benefits, so if you feel the sniffles creeping up on you, let yourself go with the spice jars! You really can't go wrong.
For those of you who are a little wary about mixing too many spices together, here is a -by no means exhaustive- list of aromatics that pair well with eggs and tomatoes, and cannot help but agree with each other: bay leaf; Berbere spice mix; chile (fresh or dried); Chinese five spice; cinnamon; citrus peel; coriander seed; cumin; curry powder; fennel seeds; paprika (mild, hot or smoked); garam masala; ginger (fresh or ground); oregano; pepper (any and all types -try long pepper, it's divine!); Ras el Hanout; rosemary; thyme; turmeric...
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add to shopping list Ingredients
1 or 2 eggs
250ml/ 1 cup tomato sauce
or 125ml/ ½ cup diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, crushed
¼ onion, chopped or sliced fine
oil and/or butter
3 tsp mixed ground spices, plus a few pinches of the more colourful ones for garnish
salt
pepper
Preparation
In a small pan, heat the tomato sauce.
If you are starting the sauce from scratch: heat oil and, or butter, in a small pan over medium-high heat.
Add onions. Stir until a light brown crust forms at the bottom of the pan, add garlic and spices.
When the garlic is cooked, about 1 minute, add the diced tomatoes.
Cook until everything is bubbling and the tomatoes start to fall apart.
Adjust the seasoning.
At this point, you can either pour the sauce into individual bowls and crack the egg over top, and bake in a 180'C/ 350'F oven for 6 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked to your liking.
Or, you can crack the egg right into the pan, and poach it on the stove top.
Serve hot from the stove or warm-ish.
Garnish with a sprinkling of spices.
