2.15.2009

Pisto Manchego with Eggs

Pisto Manchego with Eggs

Did You Know? White shelled eggs are produced by hens with white feathers and white ear lobes. Brown shelled eggs are produced by hens with red feathers and red ear lobes. Brown egg layers usually are slightly larger and require more food, thus brown eggs usually cost more than white eggs.

Just in this past year have my tastebuds developed a love for eggs. I've always eaten a healthy diet, but when I started going to acupuncture, my doctors really examined the foods I was incorporating into my daily life. Surprisingly, I wasn't eating the type foods that my body required to function at it's best. So to get my system in its optimal condition, and my chi in balance, I reworked a lot of aspects of my life, diet being one of them. I was instructed to eat eggs, a lot of eggs. In fact, they were perfectly fine with me consuming at least a dozen every week, if not more. And while I didn't take it to that level most weeks, I did go from not eating eggs at all, to eating at least 1/2 a dozen every week.



Pisto Manchego with Eggs

This recipe came about in one of my late night recipe searches for things to do with eggs. If I was going to be eating a lot of eggs, I needed to find ways that I would enjoy them (scrambled not being one of them). To this day, I pretty much only enjoy them fried or poached, with the yolks still runny. This pisto manchego incorporates my love of vegetables with my new found love of poached eggs.

Swimming in a ratatouille base, the creamy egg yolks are blanketed by a firm white, making this dish perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I can't wait until Summer arrives, when the farmers markets spring up again, and you don't think you'll ever see the end of your zucchini and tomato bounty. Until then, here's the recipe...


Pisto Manchego with Eggs


Pisto Manchego with Eggs
Adapted from The New York Times: Recipes for Health section

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds zucchini, or a combination of green and yellow summer squash, diced
2 pounds tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (juice reserved)
Salt & Pepper
4-6 eggs

Heat the oil in a large, heavy, nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add the onion. Stir often, until transluscent — about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute or two until fragrant. Stir in the squash and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook for 5 minutes, until the squash is coated with oil and beginning to soften. Add the tomatoes, and salt to taste (3/4 to 1 teaspoon), and turn the heat to medium-high. Stir often for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have slightly cooked down. Add the juice from the tomatoes plus 1/4 cup water, stir together, and turn the heat back down to medium-low. Cook uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, until the vegetables are soft and easy to mash. Stir often until the mixture cooks down and begins to stick to the pan. From time to time, press on the squash with the back of your spoon so that it breaks down. Taste, adjust the salt, and add lots of pepper.

Using the back of your spoon, make 4-6 wells in the vegetable mixture and break an egg into each well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover the pan, and cook until the eggs have set, about six to eight minutes (the whites should be set, but the yolks should still be runny). Serve, using a spatula to dish out portions of pisto topped with an egg, or two.


Pisto Manchego with Eggs

24 comments:

  1. This looks so delicious, I think I could eat it for any meal of the day!

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  2. This looks delicious! The eggs are a good addition!

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  3. That is a lot of eggs! You and my fiance would get along famously. You two could eat eggs until you the chickens came home. Honestly, though, this dish looks wonderful. I love all of the flavors going on.

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  4. I only ever eat my eggs poached, and I eat a lot of poached eggs. Over toast, over sauteed spinach, in tomato sauce...I'll have to try this now, too!

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  5. I haven't made ratatouille for awhile because my parents have been spoiled by the relatively haute dishes that I've been serving them :P But the simple addition of eggs and the beautiful presentation it affords is more than reason enough to make this! Wonderful pictures, too.

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  6. ok, I'm in on this one.
    never heard of it, but I love the flavors in it.
    hope you had a good v-day?

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  7. I am sooo gonna make this!

    I love eggs and am always looking for new ways to make them and this looks delicious!

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  8. I love eggs and am always looking for new things to do with them. I made something similar recently. So delicious and easy too!

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  9. what a neat recipe! i really want to try this!

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  10. Sara: Me too!

    pigpigscorner: Especially when the yolk is still runny.

    Andrea: Haha, we'd get a long great.

    Becca: Poached eggs are the best.

    Chris: Sometimes simple flavors are the best way to go. Try this out for sure.

    Dawn: I know you'll love this, and my Valentine's Day way so much fun. A lot of cooking and chocolate dipped fruit. I hope yours was the best!?

    pickycook: Let me know how you like it.

    Esi: It was so simple, and I'm sure you could play around with different veggies.

    raspberryrunner: Definately try this out, and let me know how it goes!

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  11. Wow, I never knew that about white vs. brown shelled eggs. I always thought the difference was just cosmetic.

    This makes me want eggs! I think I know what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow.

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  12. No I didn't see this post, must be our usual vibes! I really like your take on eggs on vegetables, i like it so much that I am really hungry now...

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  13. Eggs are such a favorite of mine. This dish looks fantastic, I would eat this for any meal.

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  14. These eggs look wonderful--thanks! In an effort to eat less chicken and to make dinner quickly during the week, we have been eating eggs scrambled with smoked salmon. Or, we have all kinds of omelets--a favorite is with feta and spinach (just keep in the freezer). For breakfast, I melt cheese on a flour tortilla and add eggs scrambled with crumbled turkey bacon.

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  15. This makes up smile. Smile for a good breakfast.

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  16. hmmm i don't watch the show, but i do know that tonight is a repeat! hahaha! i have some grumpy housemates. whatever. they have macarons to eat. and then Bourdain is on at 10! Philippines! hooray!

    you're just about to graduate? me too. and not in culinary arts or food journalism? me too. history and french double. will i make it until May 10? hope so. hehe. you go to school in Boston? where? my little sister goes to holyoke.

    i love eggs as well. though if i have a choice, it's demi-soft and in a polka dot egg cup every time :)

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  17. That looks so good! With a piece of crusty whole grain bread that would make the perfect breakfast.

    My favourite way of having eggs is slow cooked. If you search for "onsen tamago" on my blog you can find the recipe. The white comes out like custard and the yolk is firm but has the velvety texture of a runny egg.

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  18. This looks so yummy... I am extremely unsatisfied with my cheerios now!

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  19. I made this for dinner tonight (a combination of the nytimes recipe and somebody elses). It's such a handy recipe to know isn't it? Really tasty, easy and healthy.

    I love your pictures!

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  20. I like the sound of cooking the eggs right in the pan with all of the vegetables.

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  21. I love the name of the blog. It is divine. I hope to be a buff chickpea one day :).

    This egg dish looks delicious. I am about to start a weird rotation diet for food allergies and was dismayed to find out that I am sensitive to eggs, luckily I can still have duck eggs. I think this would be a good recipe for them.

    I'll let you know how it goes.

    Thanks for the blog.

    Leah Klein
    Boston Family Foodie
    http://farmfreshsoup.blogspot.com/

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