Breakfast is, without a doubt, my favorite meal of the day. I can have breakfast food at any time of the meal and my stomach will be very happy. Pancakes for dinner? Yes, please! Scrambled eggs for lunch? Why not! Today, I'm taking the classic eggs in purgatory recipe and kicking it up a notch. By fusing together Italian and Mediterranean flavors, you have eggs in purgatory with potatoes, sizzled herbs, and sumac breadcrumbs. It's delicious, easy to make, and oh so comforting.

Recipe

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Eggs in Purgatory with Potatoes

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Keyword: vegetarian

Servings: 2

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Eggs in purgatory

• 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
• 1 yukon potato sliced into ⅛ inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon garlic minced
• 2 anchovies
• 1 28- ounce can canned diced tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon oregano fresh
• salt and pepper
• 5 eggs

Sumac breadcrumbs

• 1 tablespoon oil
• ½ cup fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Sizzled herbs

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon mint finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon basil finely chopped

Instructions

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Lay the sliced yukon potato in an even layer and cook until browned. Flip and cook on the other side until browned. Move the potatoes to the edges of the pan and add 1 tablespoon oil to the center of the pan. Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and 2 anchovies and saute for 30 seconds.
• Add the canned tomatoes, ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, and ½ cup water to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked.
• Meanwhile, make the sumac breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs, and toast until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Let cool and combine with 1 tablespoon sumac, 1 tablespoon grated parmesan, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest. Set aside.
• Prepare the sizzled herbs. Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a small saute pan over medium heat. When the oil starts to shimmer, remove it from heat. Add 1 tablespoon fresh mint and 1 tablespoon fresh basil to the hot oil, stirring to combine. Set aside.
• Make 5 wells in the potato-tomato dish and crack 5 eggs into the wells. Cover the pan and continue to cook for 4-5 minutes or until the eggs are cooked. Remove from heat and season the eggs with salt and pepper. Drizzle the sizzled herbs on top followed by the sumac breadcrumbs. Serve immediately.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

This eggs in purgatory with potatoes meal is a mashup of eggs in purgatory and shakshouka put into one. I love both meals so I thought, why not fuse the two together? Both dishes require you to poach eggs in a tomato sauce; however, how you season the tomato sauce depends on which recipe you prepare. Today, I decided to stick to an Italian based sauce but finished the meal with Mediterranean touches.

Before we cook the tomato sauce, we need to prepare the potatoes. Peel and thinly slice 1 Yukon potato - yes, you only need one potato! Heat oil in a pan and cook the potato until browned on both sides. Add the garlic and anchovies and saute for another 30 seconds. You can omit the anchovies if you're not a fan but they add a punch of umami to the dish that other ingredients do not offer. Plus if it helps, the anchovies melt away so you won't even notice them later on.

Add canned tomatoes (or chopped fresh tomatoes if they're in season!) along with red pepper flakes, fresh oregano, and water to the pan. Eggs in purgatory are usually a bit spicy hence the red chili flakes. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, make the sumac breadcrumbs. I love using stale bread and turning them into breadcrumbs but you can also use panko. Heat oil in a pan and add the breadcrumbs, toasting until browned. Add the seasonings include the sumac, parmesan, and lemon zest.

Wipe the pan clean and heat ¼ cup olive oil for the sizzled herbs. When the oil starts to shimmer, turn off the flames and add fresh mint and basil. Be careful, the oil will sizzle! You can also prepare the sumac breadcrumbs and sizzled herbs the day before.

When the potatoes are cooked, crack several eggs in the sauce and cover the pan. Continue to simmer until the eggs are cooked. This can take anywhere from 4 minutes to 8 minutes depending on how cooked you want your eggs. Finish the eggs in purgatory with potatoes with the sumac breadcrumbs and sizzled herbs and dig in!

I love how this breakfast dish can be served at any time of the day and be incredibly satisfying. The sauce is the perfect amount of spicy with a hint of sumac from the breadcrumbs and the sizzled herbs are a great finishing touch. Don't forget to serve this with crusty bread to mop up any of the extra sauce!

For more breakfast inspiration check out this spicy fried egg sandwich!