Sunday, February 12, 2012

Open-Face Egg Sandwich with Bacon, Asparagus, and Pesto


What could be a better start to Valentine’s Day than a delicious breakfast with some playful presentation?  This dish combines bacon, roasted asparagus, roasted green onions, bronzed sourdough, homemade pesto spread, and of course, a fried egg.  I love cutting this sandwich in half and letting the gooey fried egg run over the asparagus and bacon.  Topping each bite with bits of tomato cucumber salad adds a final fresh component to this irresistible flavor profile.

Ingredients 
4 slices sourdough bread
8 slices bacon
4 eggs

Spinach and Basil Pesto:
1 bunch spinach leaves
.66 container basil leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Roasted Asparagus and Scallions:
12 ounces asparagus, ends trimmed
4 scallions, ends trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Tomato Cucumber Salad:
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
½ English cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup chopped basil
drizzle of fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions 
To make the pesto:  Place spinach leaves, basil leaves, minced garlic, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse until a spreadable paste forms.  Set aside.

To roast the asparagus and scallions:  Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place the asparagus spears and scallions in a 9x13 pan and drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Sprinkle salt and pepper.  Roast for about 20 minutes, or until they have browned.

To make the tomato and cucumber salad:  In a medium bowl, toss together the chopped tomato, the chopped cucumber, and the chopped basil.  Drizzle fresh lemon juice.  Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.

To make the bacon and bronzed toast: Fry up bacon slices on a griddle over medium heat.  Once both sides have crisped, remove from griddle and place on a paper towel.  Don’t drain the bacon grease, use this pan to toast the slices of bread. Place the slices of sourdough bread on the griddle and bronze each side.  Take off heat once both sides have browned

For the fried egg:  melt butter in skillet on medium heat.  To get the heart-shaped egg, we cracked the eggs into Norpro Nonstick Heart and Pancake Egg Rings, then continued to fry just until egg white is cooked, or sunny-side up, roughly 1 minute.  You could also fry the egg normally and cut the egg into a heart shape.

To assemble sandwiches: Place 2 slices of bacon on a slice of the bronzed sourdough toast.  Place a few roasted asparagus spears and scallion on top of the bacon.  Spread a thick layer of spinach basil pesto.  Finally, top with the heart-shaped fried egg.  Serve salad on side.

24 comments:

  1. Love this! What a perfect breakfast!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Donna! I need to try those Buffalo Chicken rolls on your site. For real...

      Delete
  2. adorable idea! I have one of those heart shaped egg and pancake rings, I've just never tried it out, this recipe looks like the perfect excuse to break it out!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kristina. Great to have you as a new member! Those rings actually seem to work well. They keep all the egg white from escaping, but still let it cook through nice and quick, so the yolk stays soft.

      Delete
  3. This is a wonderful savory way to celebrate Valentine's. Great way to stack all those goodies together-yum! Not sure if I would just have it for breakfast or just for Valentine's-no need to restrict this tasty meal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks again, Tina! Yea, these are good any time. I'm actually wondering how it would be with another piece of toast on top for a proper sandwich. Pretty good, I imagine. Next time...

      Delete
  4. What a great way to wake up on V-Day! I have these rings too and I wish now I had broken them out this weekend. I love the sounds of that pesto too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! The pesto is really what makes it in my opinion. The first time, we used about half as much, and on Saturday, we really slathered it on. Kinda ties it all together.

      Delete
  5. How beautiful! This sandwich looks great and delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks awesome! I'll def. be making these when asparagus season finally rolls around. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, glad to hear it! I sometimes forget how lucky Southern California is with the whole year round asparagus thing...

      Delete
  7. Check out his post, I think you will like it.
    http://crostiniandchianti.blogspot.com/2012/02/liebster-award.html

    ReplyDelete
  8. Awwww, that is such a sweet way to start Valentine's day. Actually, I wouldn't mind starting any day that way. Sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is the cutest thing I've ever seen! I LOVE breakfast sandwiches. So delish.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Beautiful presentation!Looks great!
    Happy Valentines Day!

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is quite the perfect Valentine's Day breakfast. Love the heart shaped egg! Bacon, asparagus, eggs, pesto and toast, what's not to love. Someone was very lucky yesterday! Hope you had a great Valentine's Day!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a delicious breakfast! Your heart shaped egg is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ohh how cute. I would love to have that for breakfast....

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great post. Love the heart. I love asparagus. I did a bacon and asparagus salad recently. http://caroleschatter.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/asparagus-bacon-salad.html

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...