Eggs in Purgatory Recipe

5 from 21 votes

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Eggs in Purgatory is an easy Italian dish that uses basic pantry ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes. This recipe allows two eggs per person - you can suit yourself how many you think you would like per person. Serve with lots of crusty bread for dipping and dunking, this is a meal the whole family will love.

Prep Time5

Cook Time18

Total Time23

Servings: people

Author: Marcellina

Ingredients

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ onion
1 garlic clove
14.5 oz (1 small can or 400g) canned whole tomatoes in tomato juice
½ teaspoon chilli flakes (or to your taste)
½ teaspoon salt
4 eggs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
basil leaves
crusty bread (for serving)

Instructions

Finely chop onion and garlic.
Heat oil in skillet and add the onion.
Gently fry the onion until translucent and cooked through.
Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.
Crush the tomatoes. Use a food processor or pour tomatoes into a bowl and crush with a potato masher or fork.
Add tomatoes, chilli flakes and salt to the skillet.
Gently simmer for 10 minutes until slightly reduced, stirring every now and then.
Take the skillet off the heat and make four little indents for the eggs.
Crack an egg into a small bowl and slip the egg into one on the indents. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
Return skillet to a medium heat and cover with a lid.
Cook for 6-8 minutes or until eggs are cooked to your liking.
Serve immediately sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese and chopped fresh basil and toasted bread on the side for dunking and scooping.

Notes

Ingredient substitutions

fresh (peeled) tomatoes, passata, or canned crushed tomatoes for canned whole tomatoes
regular or light olive oil for extra virgin
spring onion, leeks or shallots for the onion
powdered, granular or bottled garlic for fresh garlic
pecorino, romano or another hard cheese for Parmesan
fresh parsley for basil

Variations

This recipe can be varied in so many ways so each time you make Eggs in Purgatory it's a little different.

spicy or not so spicy - adjust the chilli flakes to your liking
add a can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or other canned beans to the tomato sauce
drop in chunks of feta cheese after you add the eggs for a double cheese hit
when the onion is half done add a cup or so of chopped vegetables like zucchini or capsicum (sweet peppers) and sauté until softened
don't like poached eggs? - prepare the sauce and serve with fried eggs or fried halloumi cheese
double the amount of sauce ingredients for lots of delicious tomato goodness

How to store and reheat

Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a day or two. Reheat gently in a skillet on the stove with the lid on or in the microwave oven for a few minutes until heated through.

Can this recipe be made ahead?

Make the tomato sauce a day or even three days ahead. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat then reheat in a skillet on the stove and continue the recipe from step 8.

Nutrition