I am pretty certain that most everyone has had at least one success and at least one failure in the kitchen by concocting a meal out of what’s leftover in the fridge or freezer, in the pantry, and/or on the counter. I’ve made some “clean the fridge out” soups, for example, that were then dubbed “take the trash out” soups because they went straight into the garbage.
On the successful and absolutely delicious side of things, however, are the creations from the last bits that are left that just work. This dish is one of them. I was driving to my boyfriend’s house this morning for breakfast before work and on the short drive there, I was taking a mental inventory of not only what we had left but which of our once fresh and perfect items were about to meet their doomsday.
I then remembered the handful of roma tomatoes I had bought and then shortly thereafter, forgotten about. This recipe, of course, can be done with perky & happy tomatoes but especially remember it when you have one of those sad, weepy tomatoes staring at you and begging to not be picked from the vine for nothing.
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup fresh roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 pieces sourdough bread
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 whole eggs
- Crème fraîche, to taste
- Cilantro, roughly chopped and to taste
- Italian parsley, roughly chopped and to taste
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Make the tomato sauce. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. After a minute, add diced onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, garlic, sugar, and spices. Lower heat and continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Finish the tomato sauce. Using caution, pour sauce into a blender or food processor and blend/pulse until smooth--be careful of escaping steam!
- Make skillet toast. In a heavy-bottomed (and oven-safe) skillet (cast iron is perfect, if you have it!) melt the butter over low heat. Once butter is melted, place pieces of bread into skillet and allow it to crisp up on the first side, approximately 2 minutes.
- Top the toasts. With the crisped bread side up (and the not crisp at all side down!) spoon over a healthy portion of the tomato sauce onto each piece of bread. Make a little well in the sauce and crack an egg into that well. It's okay if some of the raw egg falls over the side! Just be sure to keep the yolk and most of the egg white snuggled on top of the toast. Repeat for the second toast.
- Finish in the oven. Carefully (and slowly) transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes or until egg whites are just set.
- Garnish. Top your toasts with your fresh herbs, crème fraîche, and a sprinkle of kosher salt to taste.
- This is a great use for softened tomatoes that are a day or so past making the cut for that sandwich of yours!