An easy and delicious breakfast, the eggs, tomatoes and basil are cooked in rendered bacon fat. Serve over toasted crusty bread sprinkled with Parmesan and basil.
Cook’s notes
I grew up eating eggs for breakfast and eggs for my mid-afternoon snack. Mostly, I cooked my egg sunny side up with a very runny yolk. Rarely did I cook scambled eggs. If scrambled eggs were on the table, someone else cooked them. If my father did it, it would likely have small cubes of potatoes stirred in. If my mother did it… Wait, my mother didn’t cook.
Anyway… The reason I never liked scambled eggs is because I found them dry. I would learn later that it didn’t have to be that way. By cooking the beaten eggs just until they are barely set, they stay moist. And throwing in additional ingredients can make scambled eggs more exciting.
Not everyone like their scambled eggs that way. Most prefer the eggs cooked all the way through. This recipe is versatile enough to satisfy everyone because the level of doneness is easy enough to modify. Pull the eggs off the pan while still wet or keep cooking until no wet streaks remain.
The good news is that even if you cook the eggs to the max, the dish stays moist. That’s because of the bacon fat and the tomatoes.
Don’t skip the cheese and basil. When combined with tomatoes, you get a whiff of something that reminds you of pizza. And with the presence of sweet onions, well, this dish can be an all-day breakfast meal.
Bacon can be replaced by sausages. Slice or chop, cook until fat has been rendered and just follow the rest of the steps.
Scrambled eggs with bacon and tomatoes
Ingredients
- 100 grams belly bacon (3.5 oz)
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 small onion
- 12 large sweet basil leaves
- 3 large eggs
- 2 pinches salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- toasted bread to serve
- grated Parmesan to serve
Instructions
- Thinly slice the bacon.
- Halve the tomatoes, scoop and discard the seeds. Dice the flesh.
- Peel and roughly chop the onion.
- Slice the basil leaves.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs with salt and pepper.
- Spread the bacon on the bottom of the pan and cook over medium-high heat until lightly browned and fat has been rendered.
- Add the tomatoes, onion and half of the basil to the bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened.
- Set the heat to low. Pour the eggs into the pan. Cook, stirring, until the eggs are barely set.
- Spoon some of the scrambled eggs with bacon, tomato and basil on a piece of toast. Sprinkle with Parmesan and more basil.
Chinese egg cakes