Surprise Dad on Father’s Day morning—or any time—with these delicious, tender scrambled eggs.
Talk about a power breakfast to wake up Dad with on Father’s Day! This recipe, with its few ingredient to high flavor ratio, combines the protein power of eggs and sausage, fresh zest of red bell pepper and shallots and richness of Parmesan cheese—all in one pan.
Before getting started, here’s a quick tip: adding just a small amount of salt to the eggs before cooking them not only enhances scrambled egg flavor, it also ensures the eggs will turn out soft and tender as shown in the left photo below. Eggs cooked without salt tend to be tough and rubbery as shown in the right photo below.
Preparation Time: 15-20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes
Ingredients
(for 4)
8 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Oil (I’m using coconut oil, but olive or vegetable oil works fine)
2 Tablespoons Diced Shallots (1 medium to large sized shallot)
1 Chopped Bell Pepper (I like red, yellow or orange bell peppers because they’re sweeter than green bell peppers)
½ – 1 Pound Sausage (I’m using linguica sausage, but any sausage will work)
3 Tablespoons Shredded or Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/4 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
Dash of Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Equipment
10-12 Inch Frying Pan
Spatula
Sharp Knife
Cutting Board
Bowl
Tablespoon
Fork
1. Prepare the bell pepper, shallot and sausage as follows.
Bell Pepper – Start by rinsing and giving the pepper a quick hand scrub with cold tap water.
Use a sharp knife to cut the pepper in half lengthwise without cutting into the seed cluster in the middle of the pepper.
Pull the pepper halves apart and remove the stem and seed cluster.
Cut each pepper half into strips 1/4 – 1/2 inch (6 – 12 mm) wide. Then cut those strips in cross section into pieces also 1/4 – 1/2 inch (6 – 12 mm) long.
Shallot – Cut the root and stem ends from the shallot. Then peel off the shallot skin.
Cut the shallot in cross section into strips 1/8 – 1/4 inch (3 – 6 mm) wide, making sure not to cut through the back of the shallot. Finish by cutting the shallot strips in cross section into pieces also 1/8 – 1/4 inch (3 – 6 mm) wide. (Not cutting the back of the shallot as shown in the first picture below keeps the strips intact to make cutting in the next step easier.)
Sausage – “Butterfly” the sausage by cutting it in half lengthwise. Finish by cutting the sausage halves in cross section into pieces 1/4 – 1/2 inch (6 – 12 mm) wide.
2. Put the frying pan on the stove, and turn on the burner to MEDIUM heat.
2. While the pan warms, break 8 eggs into a bowl. If necessary, remove any broken eggshell pieces from the bowl by using a larger eggshell piece to attract and scoop up the smaller piece(s).
Add about as much salt, ground black pepper and red pepper flakes as shown here along with…
…2 tablespoons shredded or grated Parmesan cheese.
3. Stir the eggs vigorously with a fork until the yolks and egg whites are well mixed together.
4. Check the frying pan for the proper cooking temperature by wetting your fingers with tap water and flicking the water onto the pan surface.
The pan is warmed to the proper cooking temperature when the water sizzles on contact with the pan surface and quickly evaporates. (NOTE: If the water sizzles and evaporates in a puff as soon as it hits the pan, move the pan to a cool burner for a few minutes. Turn down the heat setting a few notches on the burner you originally used, and heat the pan again. If the water doesn’t sizzle on contact, keep heating the pan until it does.)
5. Add 2 tablespoons oil to the hot pan.
Add and turn the sausage every minute or so with a spatula until…
…the sausage browns about as shown here.
6. Add the chopped pepper and shallot, and cook for 1-2 minutes, turning the sausage and vegetable mixture with a spatula occasionally until what you have looks about like…
…this.
7. Add the eggs to the pan, and…
…let them cook for about 30 seconds until they start to form bubbles that push up from the pan surface. Then…
…gently turn the eggs every 30 seconds or so until they are safely cooked through.
Scrambled eggs are safely cooked when they are solid throughout with no runny liquid but are still tender and slightly moist on the surface as shown here.
8. Lift the cooked scrambled eggs from the pan onto a plate, top with another tablespoon (or more) of shredded or grated Parmesan cheese and…
…serve warm. Happy Father’s Day!
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Images courtesy of the author
Thanks for the Recipe Mr. Tretter, I will use variations of this for my carb-backloading.
Love these scrambled eggs! I make them with all kinds of stuff—it’s a great way to use up leftover vegetables and meat. I like lots of greens in mine—spinach, kale, whatever I’ve got.
Right on, Justin! That’s what these recipes are about: introducing an idea, new ingredients or a different take on a specific food and then letting it rip from there.