Eggs in purgatory is simple Italian comfort food at its finest. It's made in a skillet with softly poached in a simple yet robust spicy tomato sauce. When done, the eggs are runny so that you can dip some crusty bread into them. And use the bread to soak up that delicious tomato sauce too!
Have you ever had eggs in purgatory before? I don't know where exactly it gets its name, but I've read different things on the naming of this dish. The most reliable version mentions that this dish resembles purgatory because the eggs represent the souls trying to escape from purgatory which is represented by the hot, red tomato sauce.
I love this dish because it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's so versatile! Although if you lived in Italy you would probably not eat eggs in purgatory for breakfast, because Italians typically don't eat cooked eggs for breakfast. They actually prefer cookies, cakes, and croissants.
Did I also mention this dish only makes 20 minutes to make and is made in only one pan? It's such a great recipe to have in your arsenal - convenient, tasty, few ingredients, and quick to make! I often make it for lunch or dinner, it has saved me MANY times.
How to make it
Make the tomato sauce - Saute onion and garlic, and add in the tomatoes along with salt. Let sauce cook down.
Add in the eggs, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, partially cover and let them cook until the whites are firm, and the yolk is runny.
Top tips
- I used a 10 ¼ inch cast iron skillet to make this recipe
- I found the easiest way to add the eggs to the sauce is to first crack each egg into a small bowl and then pour the egg into the tomato sauce, instead of cracking the eggs directly into the sauce.
- By partially covering the eggs when cooking with a lid, this should help the white firm up yet keep the yolk soft and runny.
- Tomatoes to use:
- I've tried this recipe with various tomatoes, and I found that canned peeled plum tomatoes give the best consistency to the sauce
- Using crushed strained tomatoes will give you a good result, but the consistency of the sauce will also be a bit too smooth, and I found it to be quite heavy as well. I like the light, rustic consistency that the peeled plum tomatoes produce.
- Using fresh tomatoes would work as well - you may need to adjust the cooking time.
Recipe
Eggs in Purgatory - Easy 20 Minute Recipe!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoon chopped white onion cut into small pieces
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 14 oz can peeled plum tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 tablespoon torn basil
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a medium size skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering, add the onion and sauté until soft but not fully cooked, about 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and chili flakes and continue to sauté until garlic is cooked through, another 1 minute.
- While onion and garlic are sautéing, pour the tomatoes into a bowl and mash them up with a fork.
- Once onion and garlic are finished cooking, add canned tomatoes to the skillet. Also rinse out the can of tomatoes, and the bowl where you mashed the tomatoes. Add this tomato water to the sauce (about ½ cup). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook the tomato sauce until it has thickened, 10-15 minutes. Add torn basil to sauce and stir.
- Crack an egg into a small bowl. Form a small well in the sauce and pour the egg into the well. Do this 4 times. Sprinkle the eggs with 1 tablespoon of the parmesan cheese.
- Cook the eggs in the tomato sauce, partially covered, until the whites are set, but the yolks still runny, about 5 minutes.
- Top the eggs with remaining parmesan cheese, additional pepper and basil if desired.
- Serve with toasted bread and enjoy!
Joey Calandrino says
My grandma Calandrino used to fix this for me when I'd visit. Used to put big pepperoni slices on a thick piece of bread and then put the eggs and sauce on top. Covered with mozzarella and you're in business.