Christmas Cooking #1: Eggs in Purgatory

Christmas Cooking #1: Eggs in Purgatory

Every Christmas morning, my daughters clamor for Eggs in Purgatory, which is a traditionally pleasing and theologically themed holiday food. It's simple:

1. Heat tomato sauce (with a little garlic and black pepper) in a pan.
2. Use a ladle to make "holes" in the sauce; then drop in an egg (crack each egg in a cup before plopping into the sauce so it retains its shape).
3. Sprinkle with parmesan; cover and slow cook.

I keep the heat way low. This morning, I made seven eggs (one for each of the Deadly Sins) in a big non-stick pan, and they cooked on an almost imperceptible gas flame for about 30 minutes (seems like an eternity, but salvation awaits!). The sauce helps moderate even very low heat, and the result of this slow cooking is an egg with a lightweight custard-y consistency that I find challenging to achieve without the buffering effect of the sauce. The richness of egg and cheese balance the acids and spice of the sauce, and you end up with a very tasty and colorful breakfast; if you add some oregano or chopped basil, you can get the seasonal red/green color scheme going, too.

Serve with crusty bread and appropriately penitential thoughts.

Hammond

David:

That's a wonderful little dish and I like your slow-cook method. An addition of an herb is nice -- I like a little basil but just some flat-leaf parsley is very good too. I find a dash of crushed red pepper in the oil before adding the tomato helps remind one that Purgatory is one door down from il diabolo.

Merry Christmas!

A

David, uova 'mpriatorio was a staple of my childhood in cold weather, so you get my vote for raising your daughters right. Today I've shined the recipe up a bit by starting with a tomato sauce with either thyme or marjoram in it (carrot, onion, a little garlic base, plus maybe pancetta or guanciale, then passata di pomodoro) and substitute a pecorino cheese over the eggs. That gives the dish a little more contrast than parmigiano-reggiano. Antonius is absolutely right about the pepperoncino: one needs some heat "nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita."

David mentions the visual aspect which is something I've loved since childhood: the yellow of the yolk, the white of the egg and the red and green background all make for a festive looking dish. Though I think we ate it typically on Wednesdays or Fridays for lunch, non-meat days in our house every week. It didn't have any holiday applications but I like the idea.

Of course, adding some pancetta and guanciale is not something I would object too strenuously to... I also agree with Choey that passata works especially nicely for this dish.

A

Choey wrote:Today I've shined the recipe up a bit by starting with a tomato sauce with either thyme or marjoram in it (carrot, onion, a little garlic base, plus maybe pancetta or guanciale, then passata di pomodoro) and substitute a pecorino cheese over the eggs.

Choey,

At breakfast yesterday, my oldest daughter mentioned that she might like some meat in it, and although we'd never made it with meat before, I suggested that maybe bacon or pancetta would be a nice addition, and everyone agreed they'd like it that way but...there's something about the purity of the sauce, eggs and cheese that I really like.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:...there's something about the purity of the sauce, eggs and cheese that I really like.

That's true; I think the simplicity of the dish is really a plus (though depending on various factors, I could also definitely see 'kicking it up a notch').

I have a vague recollection of a Mexican style of making eggs similar in nature, i.e., poaching eggs in a green or red sauce, but at the moment I can't find any information on this. Huevos Motuleños has eggs on sauce but I think the eggs are fried and placed atop a tortilla and bed of sauce. That's a nice looking dish too, with its ham and peas to boot...

A

Antonius wrote:I have a vague recollection of a Mexican style of making eggs similar in nature...

Yes, there's a recipe in Diana Kennedy's first book, Huevos en rabo de mestiza. The sauce includes sauteed onion and rajas of chiles poblanos, then blended roasted tomatoes are added. After the raw eggs are slid into the broth, slices of cream cheese are placed on top, the pan is covered and the dish cooks gently until the eggs are set.

I had a similar dish when I was in Malawi in 1988. It was eggs poached in tomato sauce with some herbs and cheese and served with some rice on the side, very simple and delicious.

Antonius wrote:Huevos Motuleños has eggs on sauce but I think the eggs are fried and placed atop a tortilla and bed of sauce. That's a nice looking dish too, with its ham and peas to boot...
A

A,

I ordered these eggs in Motul without actually knowing what I would get. I was delighted to see the peas on top, an addition that still strikes me as odd but which I found quite enjoyable.

Hammond

David Hammond wrote:

Antonius wrote:Huevos Motuleños has eggs on sauce but I think the eggs are fried and placed atop a tortilla and bed of sauce. That's a nice looking dish too, with its ham and peas to boot...
A

A,

I ordered these eggs in Motul without actually knowing what I would get. I was delighted to see the peas on top, an addition that still strikes me as odd but which I found quite enjoyable.

Hammond

I also had these eggs on my first trip to Cozumel in the early '70s. I liked them so much, I ordered them for breakfast every morning after that. The version that I got in Mexico was made with a sauce redolant with Chipotle peppers. I can safely say that it was my introduction to chipotles, although I didn't know what they were called at the time. It was only years later when I was told that what I was eating was made with chipotles that I remembered the taste of those eggs and the lightbulb went on above my head.

EiP, 2008.



This year, I crumbled in some Caputo's hot sausage, which everyone seemed to like.

David Hammond wrote:This year, I crumbled in some Caputo's hot sausage, which everyone seemed to like.

Lovely! Did you brown the sausage first?

stevez wrote:

David Hammond wrote:This year, I crumbled in some Caputo's hot sausage, which everyone seemed to like.

Lovely! Did you brown the sausage first?

Oh yeah. It might have been tough to ensure cooking all-the-way-through without browning, plus I prefer the toothier texture and caramelized flavor of griddled sausage.

Caputo's makes a decent Italian sausage...though I would have preferred chunks of Ermine (not yet retrieved from Hoesley's in New Glarus).

.
Was reading Ruhlman's blog post about the NYT La Quercia article and noticed a link to this entertaining and informative NYT Tiny Kitchen video of Jill Santopietro making Eggs in Purgatory. She finishes EiP with two translucent slices of lardo, I'm in love!

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:.
Was reading Ruhlman's blog post about the NYT La Quercia article and noticed a link to this entertaining and informative NYT Tiny Kitchen video of Jill Santopietro making Eggs in Purgatory. She finishes EiP with two translucent slices of lardo, I'm in love!

Enjoy,
Gary

Lardo is a nice touch (and I just happen to have a slab in my refrigerator, so I could give this recipe a test run).

I was a little disturbed by her off-handed way with the prosciutto -- is it used only for flavoring the ragu and then discarded? That seems wrong...or perhaps I misinterpreted.

David Hammond wrote:I was a little disturbed by her off-handed way with the prosciutto -- is it used only for flavoring the ragu and then discarded? That seems wrong...or perhaps I misinterpreted.

She did discard, though she made a point of saying she used the prosciutto end which, like dryer parmesan rind/end, is typically used as flavoring in soup, stew, sauce etc. Nonetheless I'd have still nibbled around the edges of the prosciutto.

Enjoy,
Gary

I've got 4 eggs simmering on the stovetop right now in a tomato sauce, it smells close to heavenly

Had no idea this was a classic Israeli breakfast.

David Hammond wrote: Had no idea this was a classic Israeli breakfast.

Yes, shakshuka the name of which, for some odd reason, always reminds me of Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force

G Wiv wrote:

David Hammond wrote: Had no idea this was a classic Israeli breakfast.

Yes, shakshuka the name of which, for some odd reason, always reminds me of Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force

This dish was one of my son's favorites at the late, lamented HaShalom, where it could be ordered mild or spicy.

My girlfriend introduced me to the dish, but she called it "Moroccan eggs". Since then I've seen many variations by many names. I like to throw in some chopped sweet bell peppers most of the time. It is super simple to change up with different flavors, and it is always delicious and healthy.

David Hammond wrote: Had no idea this was a classic Israeli breakfast.