Green eggs, sans ham

I first tried these eggs at Elbow’s house. We were having a brunch and as the host, she was handling the main dish. (I was handling the scones because no matter what the occasion, I am expected to bring scones). I couldn’t believe how delicious they were for so little investment in terms of either time or effort. My basil plants had been threatening to take over my little balcony garden so I went outside with some scissors and decimated them. I made some pesto and then froze the rest and spent the rest of the day alternately repeating “I’m so domestic!” and “Martha Stewart had better watch out!” to Mr. Shuffler.

Where were we? Oh yeah, eggs. Essentially, you start with your basic scrambled eggs recipe: 2-3 eggs, whisked together, maybe add a little milk if you feel like it. Start cooking the eggs and when they’re about 3/4 of the way there, add in about a tablespoon of pesto and 2 tablespoons of feta. Or thereabouts. Elbows’ version also had sun-dried tomatoes. Voila! Gourmet breakfast in the same time it takes to make eggs. Here’s the pesto recipe I used:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I omitted this)

METHOD

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Serve with pasta, or over baked potatoes, or spread over toasted baguette slices.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.