Italian Egg Sandwich

It's no secret that much of my love of food and cooking comes from the Italian side of my family.  Thinking back on my childhood brings memories of vegetables fresh from the garden, days full of making sausage or deep fried cookies, and countless meals surrounded by family.  That's why when I'm feeling a little homesick, or when I want to taste a bit of my past, I devote the better part of a Sunday to making Giada's marinara sauce.  The result is complex, fresh, and far surpasses anything that you can buy in a jar.  However, in addition to a great deal of tastiness, making a full batch of the sauce presents a delicious dilemma: What on earth do you do with two quarts of sauce?  You can only eat so much spaghetti in a week's time before your husband starts complaining & insists on making burgers or something.  Therefore, I had to start getting creative...or keep reading the cookbook and let Giada do the work for me.  Whatever.

The "Italian Egg Sandwich" from Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Italian cookbook called for simple ingredients that were already in my fridge and pantry and less than half an hour cooking time.  After hours slaving away on marinara sauce, I'm SOLD!


The Fixins:

• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 egg
• Salt & black pepper
• 1 slice white bread
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 Tbs Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup warm marinara sauce

Drizzle 2 tsps of the olive oil into a saute pan and heat over medium.  Crack the egg into the pan and top with salt and pepper to taste.  Cover the pan and cook the egg on one side until cooked, about 4 minutes.  Toast up the bread, brush with the remaining tsp of olive oil, rub with the cut halves of garlic, and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Spoon on the sauce and top with the egg.

The Result:

Let's begin with the obvious - I overcooked the egg.  That kitchen spoof aside, this dish totally works.  For one thing, the marinara helps cut through the egg's richness.  For another, I can't think of many meals that aren't made better with the addition of toasty, garlicky bread.  Now Giada uses "rustic" white bread.  I just had a loaf of sliced bread.  I know, I'm a heathen, so sue me.  I thought it worked fine with the processed stuff, so don't be afraid to try this with what you have.

Repeat:

The Italian Egg Sandwich was an atypical breakfast in our home, but not such a difficult one that it would be forever relegated to the weekend.  It was like a "saucy" little kick to what I usually consider a pretty boring meal (breakfast lovers, convert me!)  If you've got the pieces to this meal, it will come together in no time at all and won't leave anyone yawning...provided there is also coffee ;)