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Eggs Pipérade with Charred Scallions

Egg any way you like along with the classic Basque dish of peppers and tomatoes can be brunch or dinner. Add some charred scallions on the side as a lovely smokey side

Course Breakfast, Main Course
Keyword eggs, espelette pepper, peppers, scallions, tomatoes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Pipérade

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red pepper sliced thinly
  • 1 green pepper sliced thinly
  • 1 small red onion or half a medium sliced thinly, from top to tail
  • 4 medium garlic cloves sliced thinly
  • 1/4 tsp chilli flakes , or to taste
  • 4 roma tomatoes or 2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved chopped
  • bay leaf
  • 1 tsp Espelette pepper , plus more for finishing
  • cracked black pepper
  • kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 4 or more eggs depending on how many eggs everyone will eat
  • small handful of dill, parsley and or mint as a garnish
  • flakey salt garnish
  • Crusty bread

Charred Scallions

  • 1 bunch of scallions

Instructions

Pipérade

  1. In a large cast iron skillet, warm the olive oil over medium high heat.
  2. Add the peppers and onions. Sauté for about 5 minutes to soften. Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic and chilli pepper flakes. Continue until the peppers of almost tender.
  3. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, Espelette pepper and 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper.

  4. Cook until the tomatoes are softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the sherry vinegar at the end. Taste and re-season if necessary. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl.

Scallions

  1. Using the same pan, add the scallions with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper to coat all over, and char over medium high heat till you get the char you like and the scallions are softened. Transfer to serve with the pipérade.

Eggs

  1. You can prepare the eggs in a separate skillet, while the pipérade is cooking, to speed up the ETA of the meal. Fry, poach or scramble as you want.

  2. You can serve the pipérade on a platter with the eggs on top, and the scallions on the side. Or you can simply serve up the pipérade on each plate with an egg on top, and a few scallions on the side. Sprinkle some Espelette pepper over the eggs. Scatter some dill, parsley and mint, and a touch of flakey salt all over and serve. See below for other options.

Recipe Notes

To make a fun scrambled egg dish: Once the pipérade is almost cooked through, whisk up some eggs and add to the skillet. Stir to get the veggies distributed evenly. Let the eggs set for about 10-20 seconds, and then gently stir till they are scrambled and just cooked through. Don't forget, eggs continue cooking even after removed from the heat, so don't overcook. Serve as is, with a final sprinkling of Espelette pepper and the herbs. Serve with crusty bread.

To make this into a shakshuka: Use 2 14 oz (396 ml) cans of chopped tomatoes and the juices in place of the raw tomatoes. Preheat the oven 375F. Once the tomatoes are cooked down, and a lovely thick sauce has been achieved with all the veggies, make four indentations in the mixture. Crack the eggs gently into the dents. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Transfer the pan to the oven, and let everything bake until the eggs are just set, which should take about 7-10 minutes. Scatter the herbs on top. Serve with crusty bread.