Whether served for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner, these poached eggs in spicy tomato sauce are always satisfying.
If you’ve had shakshuka but not eggs in purgatory, you are missing out on an equally delicious meal. At first glance, you might think they are very similar, especially since the dish features gently poached eggs in a tomatoey sauce. While shakshuka contains both onions and bell peppers, this recipe contains only onions. The other key difference is that this dish from southern Italy brings out those savory Italian flavors thanks to oregano and fresh basil. You also get some heat from the red pepper flakes, which is why it’s called “purgatory.” Feel free to adjust the amount to meet your heat level. Topped with grated cheese, which helps balance that heat, you will find yourself going back for second helpings, so make sure to make enough.
Speaking of making enough, this recipe is easy to double when feeding a crowd. You can also plan to serve smaller portions as part of a larger feast by increasing the number of eggs, giving each person one egg and a large serving spoon of the sauce. You can make a beautiful presentation using English muffin halves, each topped with a large dollop of sauce, an egg, and a sprinkle of cheese and basil.
If you want to prepare a beautiful weekend brunch, I suggest making some breakfast potatoes, sausages, scones, and muffins. A fruit salad is always welcome to help cool the heat of the sauce. Of course, some toasty bread is always a good idea for soaking up all that delicious sauce. I’ll provide some of my favorite recipes to pair with this dish in the serving suggestions below.
As with shakshuka, you can also customize this dish with other ingredients. Chopped bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, chopped fresh spinach, cooked bacon, sausage, and even mozzarella or ricotta cheese can help make this dish special. You can even add leftover cooked veggies.
How to prepare this dish ahead of time
One of the things I like to do is prepare the tomato sauce ahead of time so I can heat it quickly and add the eggs to cook just before serving. I typically make a large batch of sauce—which freezes great for up to 3 months—so that I have it ready to enjoy multiple times during the week.
After making a double or triple batch in a large skillet, I can then use smaller skillets for subsequent meals. Besides, when you make this sauce in advance, you give the flavors a chance to marry overnight, intensifying their flavors. Leave the Parmesan cheese and eggs for when you are ready to serve, cooking the eggs in the reheated sauce for maximum freshness.
How do I store leftovers?
Allow leftover eggs in purgatory to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate the dish for up to 4 days. That said, it’s best to cook only the number of eggs you are going to eat at one meal, because you want the yolks to remain runny for this dish. Reheating the cooked poached eggs will cook them through, and while the dish will still taste good, it’s just not the same.
As mentioned above, the chilled tomato sauce can be frozen and later defrosted overnight in the fridge. Reheat the sauce over medium-low heat on the stove, then once hot, continue with step 4 in the directions below to cook the eggs and prepare the dish.
Serving suggestions
Eggs in purgatory need nothing more than some crusty bread for a filling meal. However, if you want to make a beautiful spread for a brunch buffet, serve some Spicy Deviled Eggs (to keep the heat going), Italian Pasta Salad, and some refreshing Fruit Skewers to help tame all that heat. Finish your spread with Gluten-Free Scones or Vanilla Bean Scones, and some Pignoli Cookies (Italian Pine-Nut Cookies) for dessert.
Eggs In Purgatory
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons chopped white onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 can peeled plum tomatoes (14 ounces) mashed with juice reserved
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup water if needed
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil torn (plus extra for garnish)
- 4 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese divided
- Toasted bread for serving
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Then add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes; stir for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Stir in the mashed tomatoes along with their juice. Season with dried oregano, salt, and pepper, and let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes until it thickens slightly. If it becomes too thick, add up to 1/2 cup water to thin it.
- Stir in the torn basil near the end of simmering. Adjust seasonings as needed.
- Make 4 small wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Carefully crack one egg into each well. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese evenly over the eggs.
- Cover the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until the egg whites are set but the yolks remain runny.
- Remove the skillet from heat. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the dish and add extra basil if desired. Serve immediately with toasted bread.
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