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Eggs in Purgatory
Ingredients
- 2 tbs olive oil
- ¼ yellow onion or shallot diced
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- ¼ tbsp crushed red pepper or calabrian chili peppers optional if you want spice, I prefer without
- 3 cups tomato passata alternative 1 can of crushed tomatoes if you prefer chunkier sauce
- seasoning to taste: salt, pepper, oregano, basil
- 4-5 eggs
- pecorino cheese
Instructions
- In a deep skillet type pan, add olive oil to warm over medium-low heat.
- Once heated, add the onions (or shallots).
- Once the onions are semi-translucent, add the smashed garlic. If you want it spicy, then here is where you add the crushed red pepper flakes.
- Once the garlic (and pepper) is fragrant, pour the passata or crushed tomatoes in. Season to your liking with salt, pepper, and basil. Optional to add oregano, some people don't like this flavor.
- Let the sauce simmer on a low heat (not too low, but enough to keep it at a light simmer) for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- After sauce has simmered, use the back of a spoon to make a well for the eggs. you should be able to part the sauce and it doesnt immediately spring back. If it passes the well test then your sauce is ready
- Crack an egg into a a separate dish, make the well again, then pour the egg into the well. Use a spoon to push some of the surrounding sauce to around the egg so that it kind of encapsulates the egg. Repeat this step with the remainder of the eggs.
- Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the tops of the eggs and then cover the eggs so that they can cook through. At this point, you just keep checking them to see if the egg reaches the consistency of your liking. Some people like a runnier yolk, others prefer a fully cooked egg, the preference is entirely yours. I like my eggs in purgatory eggs to be slightly runny, so sort of a soft boiled egg.
- Once cooked to desired egg type, remove pan from the heat and serve direct from the pan. Sprinkle a little pecorino cheese over the sauce and serve with some slightly toasted pieces of an Italian loaf to better scoop the eggs and sauce together.
Video
Eggs in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks
My dad was an excellent cook. He was not a fancy frills-and-thrills type of cook. He was a simple man who made simple meals that were simply delicious. All of my favorite things he made consisted of extremely basic but extremely tasty foods like a BLT, Roast Chicken, Breaded Anything, Baked Clams, all kinds of savory sandwiches and he would even bake sometimes. One of the meals that he made quite often was eggs in purgatory.
Eggs in purgatory are typically a spicy sauce (the hell part) and the eggs are submerged into the sauce. However, this version, my dad and I’s version, has no spice, because I was a fragile girl, you see! As a kid I had what they called a geographic tongue. So spice on those bare spots of my tongue burned like mad. My dear old dad would then just make me “eggs in sauce” but would still call it eggs in purgatory. He would say the eggs were little bad eggys and were sent to be drowned in the dangerous red sea. Not the best kid story, but he fed me and kept me entertained so we will call it a job done.
Nowadays, I can add the spice, but I continue to omit it as an homage to my late dad. It is still absolutely delicious, filling, and forever a nostalgic part of my childhood.
To Spice or Not to Spice
When making eggs in purgatory, spice is what brings the “purgatory” portion and this spice can be achieved a couple of ways. My dad used to sauté some red chili flakes with the onions or garlic and that would add a nice heat. There are a few new integrations I would suggest: chili oil, Calabrian peppers, or harissa. These would pack a spicy punch 🙂
