I’m a poached eggs junkie. There, I said it. I like my poached eggs a lot. I quite literally have them for breakfast at least 6 days a week. Yum yum yum. Thankfully eggs are one of the only sources of cholesterol in my diet, or I might have a problem.
These poached eggs are my weekend poached egg splurge. They’re incredible, and have been described by at least one person as the best breakfast she’s ever had, which made me pretty darn happy.
It’s pretty simple, really—you poach the eggs in a nice, chunky tomato sauce, and then serve the eggs and tomato sauce over fresh bread. I also served them with a side of sautéed mushrooms and spinach, and sprinkled goat cheese on top. Yum yum yum.
I used to pop these under the broiler to finish them off, but I’ve stopped doing that since it’s so hard to cook the eggs to the right point when you can’t see them. It takes a bit longer to cook them in tomato sauce than in water, but the carry over cooking from the heat of the sauce will bring them the rest of the way.
You can easily pull the sauce together while you’re sautéing the mushrooms, and then poach the eggs as you gather your fresh bread or toast. It’s a perfect breakfast for three or four people on a Sunday morning.
Tuscan Poached Eggs
1 tbsp black truffle & garlic infused olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) or 1 tbsp olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) and a few drops of truffle oil
1 tbsp butter
4 large white or brown mushrooms, sliced
¼ red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp ground coriander
Salt & pepper, as needed
3 cups fresh spinach1 tbsp olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada)
½ yellow onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 (800mL) can tomato puree
1 (400mL) can chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1 tsp dried basil
Sugar, to taste4 eggs
Fresh bread, to serve
Crumbled chèvre, to serveMelt the black truffle & garlic infused olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) together with the butter in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and coriander. Cook over medium low heat, stirring, until the onions are dark brown and reduced, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the spinach, and cook until limp, about 1 minute.
While the mushrooms are cooking, sauté the onions in the olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada), in a large sauté pan. Add the garlic once the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, and basil. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer down until thick & chunky (but definitely still sauce).
Crack four eggs unto the sauce, dispersing them evenly around the pan. Cover and cook, simmering, for around 4 minutes, until the yolks are not quite cooked to your liking (the eggs will continue to cook while they’re in the sauce, even after you remove the pan from the heat).
Since going vegan, the only kind of eggs I truly miss is definitely poached eggs. Runny yolk is key. MMMMMMMMMM. My brother and sister-in-law lived in Australia for 5+ years, and when I was visiting them they made me the best poached egg dish of life. It apparently has an Aussie flair or something…
Poach your eggs. Toast some good quality sourdough bread. Coarsely mash 1/2 an avocado (1/4 for each egg/piece of toast). Chop up a small handful of fresh basil (I tried with dried and it was… eh. Gotta be fresh!). I usually mix the basil right in with the avocado. Slather your toast with the avocado/basil, crumble on some goats cheese or feta, and top with the egg. Squeeze a lemon wedge on top, pierce your egg, and magic happens. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.
We’ll definitely cheat once or twice a year for this breakfast alone. Your poached egg concoction looks cheat-worthy as well! 😀 If I had eggs in my house I’d probably be cheating right now 😛
WOW! I simply must try this incredible sounding poached eggie Aussie goodness… mmm! I have recently started developing an appreciation for avocados (rather than just a tolerance), so this sounds like the best thing ever to have for breakfast on a warm summer morning, out on the deck, with fresh basil from that basil plant I am definitely going to keep alive this year… 😛
It really is delicious, even if you don’t LOVE avocado. There are so many other flavours going on. I was late on the avocado train as well… not that I ever disliked them, I just didn’t know what to do with them other than make guacamole! Australia was a revelation for me and I’ve appreciated them more ever since. I put them on everything now (toast, crackers, veggie burgers, wraps, you name it). I find I use it like I used to use cream cheese on bagels, and like mayo on sandwiches, etc. The only thing I dislike about them is the price–especially since sometimes an avocado seems perfect but it’s hiding a bruised, possibly moldy mess inside. I hate wasting them! There should be a refund policy if you get a dud 😛
Definitely try your hardest to keep basil alive! It’s the one herb I always need to have on hand fresh. The others I freeze from the garden at the end of the season, but I transfer one basil plant to a pot for the window. It IS really hard to keep alive indoors in the winter, I’ve learned, so I have to use it sparingly in the colder months. My frozen pesto stash is almost gone, so I’m desperate to get my 72 (an entire seedling tray) basil plants started to up my supply for next year.
I nearly had your eggy avocado concoction for dinner tonight, but then the store didn’t have any avocados. Sad 🙁 But I had some great vegan soup, and that was awesome. And I definitely agree that avocados should have a warranty policy on them! They are tricky things to pick out in a grocery store—them and those Tommy mangoes, which are generally lucky to be solidly mediocre. Ataulfo mangoes all the way!
I think we may be too far north here for the sun to be strong enough to keep a sun-hungry basil plant alive in the winter. I kept one easily through Christmas when I lived in Toronto, but here they just die 🙁 But I like your idea of the 72 seedlings… must add that to the to-do list! That thing is getting loooonng…
No… avocados? That’s tragic! What was the vegan soup you had?
Shall we draft another bylaw for an avocado/mango warranty implementation?
Oh, make no mistake: my basil is pretty sad looking in the winter… but it lives! I don’t know if we get a whole lot more daylight than Calgary in the winter, but we definitely get less than Toronto so it IS possible despite being a pain in the ass. I think I do it just to know I CAN have fresh basil, even if it’s kinda pathetic and yellowish-green. I remember the summer days being crazy long when I visited Alberta (mostly Edmonton) years ago, so I’m sure you could grow super basil in the summer and freeze a pile of it and save yourself trying to keep a zombie basil plant “alive”…
It was a smokey vegetable & lentil soup with lots of smoked hot paprika! It’ll be up on here sometime in May 🙂
We definitely need a mango/avocado warranty bylaw! I also think jujubes should be included in there as when you get a stale bag of them you are liable to lose a tooth or two, haha. One of us should probably go get a law degree or befriend a law student so this can actually happen… where do vengeful avocado loving lawyers congregate? Hmm.
You might get less sun than Toronto, but you’re further south, so it will be stronger. We get tons of sun up in Calgary all winter long, it’s just super weak (so weak it’s apparently impossible to get your daily dose of vitamin D in the winter months). So, perhaps this summer will be attack of the basil plants! I should have some extra backyard space this year, so I just need to figure out which parts are super sunny and go from there!
YUM, that soup sounds fannnntastic! Can’t wait for you to post it!
I DO have several lawyer friends that I could probably accost and manipulate with the payment of baked goods? I’ll keep you posted on how that progresses 😉
My basil plants are still wee babies, but they’re all popping up and reaching for the limited sunlight! Hopefully I’ll be able to get them into the ground before June so I can have a summer that is literally overflowing with basil.
Every time you comment you remind me that I simply must get some basil planted! Ack! Considering how long I have waited for summer to show up, it sure feels like it is sweeping in quickly now 😛
Keep me posted on that drafting legislation 😉 This is important business! 😛
Basil basil basil basil. Basil basil? BASIL! Hmm, when you type basil that many times, it starts to look like a fake word…
Fork fork fork fork fork forkforkforkforkforkfffffkkkk?
Stop making up words, Marie. How old are you, 9? 😉
Hey! I’m at least 11. Give me some credit 😛