Uova in Purgatorio – Egg souls trapped in Purgatory
Egg souls trapped in Purgatory red sauce a.k.a. Uova in Purgatorio is a delicious and simple recipe. Making the sauce the day before is a time saver on a busy #MeatlessMonday.
Half the time I can’t remember how I came to making some dishes. I know I had eggs on the brain for #MeatlessMonday, but for the life of me I can’t remember how eggs in purgatory popped into my head.
My brain is a mystery to me. If you think guys have it bad trying to figure out how a woman’s mind works, imagine what the hubs goes through. Especially since not even *I* know what’s going on that big gray mass of mine.
But sometimes, it has its moments. Like this time. I was on Pinterest, shocking I know, and a lightbulb went off. You see, sometimes when I lose inspiration, and I know we’ve all been there, I take one idea and run with it. I started that with the cooking the world, but that takes a little more research that I have the time for right now. Trust me when I say I want to get back to that. Sasha, over at Global Table Adventure, really has inspired me to do that.
I mean, what little girl wouldn’t want a Mary Poppins party? Well, with all that frozen crap going around maybe not, but look at how fun that is? And this cake? Gorgeous! And I totally want to make these Ugandan Rolex Breakfast Wraps. See what I mean? Total inspiration to travel from my kitchen.
Then I thought, “Since I don’t really have time to find a dish from every country, what ingredient does almost every country have, use, and eat? EGGS!” And this, my dear readers, inspiration was born!! I’m going to try to find an egg recipe from every country. Yeah. I know. I’m crazy.
But seriously, just look at this delicious goodness!!! Who can resist eggs baked in a slightly spicy, vibrant tomato sauce like this? And no, they’re all going to be variations of shakshuka, which is uovo in purgatorio, or huevos ranchers, or whatevs. They’ll be interesting and different. I hope.
Some dishes just really aren’t pretty to photograph. And no, I don’t have all kinds of pots and pans to put these dishes in to photograph them like other bloggers. I mean, I feel like I’m in kindergarten where blogging is concerned. I have a corner of a counter. I have a few serving/prop dishes to use. I don’t have any backdrops in the traditional sense. I have some tiled backdrops that I printed at work, cut, and taped together. How amateur.
But, when meals taste good, they don’t have to look good. And the more taste good meals I make, the more I’ll be able to get those things that make it look good. So, deal with these sad looking eggs in this delicious sauce on our regular dinner plates. And the baking pan and not some kitschy, cast iron skillet thing. Just make the dish and you won’t care, either!
Now, here’s my fail. I have yet – YET – to make perfectly poached eggs. Granted, these are my eggs and they should never be runny. Never. Ever. But this hub’s eggs were more cooked than I thought. I have adjusted the cooking times accordingly in this recipe. I always start mine at least 5 minutes ahead of his. I had hoped his were going to be runny, but they weren’t. They weren’t cooked completely through, but no yellow gold for him to dip his bread into. This is something I’m still working on. And with the current task/idea at hand, I think I’ll have plenty of recipes to master this one.
Now, here’s the secret I wasn’t going to tell you. I planned on serving this over polenta. And I sort of did, but it was a total fail that I didn’t even mention it in the recipe. The polenta needs to be toasted or baked and then topped with the eggs and sauce. As it stands, I omitting it for the hubs, but did put some on my plate. Because I love polenta. And grits. And oatmeal. And all things grainy that’s cooked in water. Him? Not so much.
So, if you want to serve it over polenta like I had intended, check Pinterest for toasted polenta recipes. I have none…yet.
What’s your favorite egg dish?
Uova in Purgatorio
Egg souls trapped in Purgatory red sauce a.k.a. Uova in Purgatorio is a delicious and simple recipe. Making the sauce the day before is a time saver on a busy #MeatlessMonday.
Ingredients
- 56 ounces canned, whole, peeled tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning, divided
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic
- pinch of crushed red pepper
- 8 large eggs
Instructions
The day before:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Strain the canned tomatoes, reserving the juice for later.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and then spray it with cooking spray. Arrange the tomatoes on the baking sheet and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the Italian seasoning and the garlic powder.
- Bake the tomatoes in the oven 25 to 30 minutes or until the juices around the tomatoes evaporate and begin to brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.
- Place the tomatoes and the reserved juice in a blender (or, if using a food processor, process in two batches) and process until smooth but still has a few chunks. Refrigerate until ready to use.
The day of:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil and sauté the garlic until fragrant; about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and sauté one minute.
- Carefully add the sauce making sure to watch for splatters. Cover the pan and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Coat a 9 by 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Once the sauce is heated through, pour into the baking pan. Using the back of a spoon, make 8 wells in the sauce.
- Crack each egg into the sauce and bake at 375 for 9 to 15 minutes depending on how done you would like your yolks to be. If it varies by person, start the harder yolks first, then add the other eggs accordingly.
- Skillet method:
- Heat a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil and sauté the garlic until fragrant; about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Carefully add the sauce making sure to watch for splatters. Cover the pan and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat and simmer until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Once the sauce is heated through, using the back of a spoon, make 8 wells in the sauce.
- Crack each egg into the sauce, cover, and simmer 9 to 15 minutes depending on how done you would like your yolks to be. If it varies by person, start the harder yolks first, then add the other eggs accordingly.
- Serve with garlic bread or a good crusty bread to dip into purgatory.
