Weekday Eggs with Romesco and Toast

December 1, 2017 Ceri

We’ve become know as much for the strategies we offer busy families as for the healthy recipes we create each week. But of all the strategies (don’t forget to meal plan!) we share, choosing eggs is the one we both personally lean on the most. To be honest, we make eggs a part of every meal including make ahead mini frittatas for school lunches or the one-pan wonder of a dinner frittata. But we also count on eggs to make our week day mornings more sane.

photo by Ashley Van Der Laan

When our children reached school age and their schedules rivaled our own, we were tasked with finding ways to make meals (especially breakfast) fast, easy and nutritious. It’s at this point our casual relationship with eggs turned into a love affair since you can fry or scramble an egg in the same time it takes to make a smoothie. And when we were creating our latest book about helping families navigate the challenging time known as the school year, we learned the best way to fire a child’s brain for a long day of learning is to deliver a balance of protein and carbohydrates. This makes the protein-rich egg — jammed with vitamins B and D as well as iron–the perfect partner for a thick piece of toast or oat muffin.

photo by Ashley Van Der Laan

A sunny and simple fried egg is always a morning friend thanks to its minimal effort and nutritional punch. However, we still like to find ways to shake up our morning routine and these eggs with Romesco sauce on toast fit the bill. Another SPC strategy is to have a few make-ahead elements –a batch of muffins or a versatile sauce—in your refrigerator at the start of the week to help make your meal times easier. A Romesco is a traditional Spanish sauce featuring red bell peppers, almonds, garlic and bread making it a hearty and flavourful addition to a runny yolk and crusty toast. You could also easily use a store-bought Romesco for this recipe but, whatever you do, don’t skip on using a thick slice of toast to soak up all the goodness.

To find more recipes ideas to help start your week off right, visit eggs.ca and check out this video if you’re not convinced that egg are your shortcut to weekday breakfast happiness.

Weekday Eggs with Romesco and Toast

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 1-inch slices of challah or crusty bread
2 tablespoons Romesco sauce (store bought or homemade, recipe below)
1/2 teaspoon fresh, chopped basil
a few basil leaves, roughly chopped
Make ahead Romesco Sauce
1 large tomato, cored
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for roasting
4 cloves garlic
1 1-inch slice of crusty bread toasted and then cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup raw, unsalted almonds
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 large roasted red bell pepper from a jar
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon salt

Method

Toast your bread slices and then smear a tablespoon of romesco sauce on each.

In a medium non-stick pan, heat one tablespoon of butter over medium high heat. Crack 2 eggs into the pan once the butter starts to sizzle. Season with salt and pepper. As soon as the edges look brown and crackly, gently flip the eggs. With your spatula, gently press on the thicker areas of white near the yolk so they run out onto the pan and cook more quickly. Season this side with salt and pepper. As soon as your whites are set, slide each egg onto prepared pieces of toast with romesco. Sprinkle with basil.

To make your own make ahead Romesco:

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Place tomato onto the baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Add the garlic to the baking sheet and roast until tomato is tender and skin peels off easily, about 30 minutes.

While the tomato is roasting, toast the bread, cut into cubes and set aside. Add almonds and pine nuts to a small skillet over low heat and warm until fragrant, about 1 minutes. Remove tomato and garlic from oven and peel the skin from tomato and garlic.

Place tomato and any juices, garlic, bread, pepper, nuts, oil, vinegar, smoked paprika and salt in a food processor. Puree until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt or smoked paprika and thin with more oil if desired.

Store in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Sweet Potato Chronicles

This post is sponsored but the opinions are authentic to Sweet Potato Chronicles.