Scrambled eggs with chives, za’atar toast and cherry tomatoes

Name: Scrambled eggs with chives, za’atar toast and cherry tomatoes
Prep time: 12 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Israeli and Mediterranean
Ingredients: 220 g Eggs (4 medium eggs, weighed without shells); 140 g Bread (baguette or country loaf) (4 slices of country or sourdough bread (lehem kafri), 1.5 cm thick and about 35 g each; pareve bread (check for the marking פרווה)); 29 g Extra virgin olive oil (1 generous tbsp (12 g) for the eggs, 1 generous tbsp (12 g) for the za’atar, ½ tbsp (5 g) for the tomatoes); 6 g Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend) (2 level tsp); 8 g Chives (¼ bunch, about twenty stems, washed and checked); 160 g Cherry tomatoes (1 handful per person); 2.5 g Fine salt (1.5 g for the eggs (2 generous pinches), 1 g for the tomatoes); 0.5 g Black peppercorns (5 turns of the mill: 2 over the tomatoes, 3 over the eggs to serve); 0.5 g Fleur de sel (1 pinch over the plated eggs)

pareve breakfast · Israeli and Mediterranean · 2/5 · easy · 20 min, including 12 hands-on

Eggs in large, glossy, creamy folds with chives, toasted country bread spread with za’atar olive oil, and cherry tomatoes that have released their juices: an Israeli breakfast for two.

Method

Crack the eggs one at a time into a cup, checking for blood spots, before tipping into the bowl. Add 1.5 g salt and beat with a fork just to combine the whites and yolks, without making them foamy. Leave for 10 minutes while preparing the rest: the salt relaxes the proteins for more tender eggs.
Halve the cherry tomatoes into a small bowl, add 1 g salt, 2 turns of the pepper mill and 5 g oil, stir and leave to stand so they release their flavourful juices. Finely snip the chives. Mix the za’atar with 12 g olive oil in a ramekin. Put the bread slices in the toaster without switching it on.
Put 12 g oil in a 22–24 cm non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and switch on the toaster at the same time (2–3 minutes, until the edges are golden). After 1 minute, the oil should simply be fluid, without smoking. Pour in the eggs and wait 15–20 seconds for the edges to begin setting. Then, every 10 seconds, draw a flexible spatula from the edge to the centre in one broad sweep, turning the pan a quarter-turn each time: the eggs will form large folds. Allow 2–3 minutes. If they catch on the bottom or the folds turn matt, take the pan off the heat for 10 seconds.
As soon as the toast pops up, give the eggs one last fold and move the pan off the heat. Spoon some za’atar oil over each slice and spread with the back of the spoon, put the toast on the plates with the tomatoes and their juices alongside, then immediately return the pan to the heat and resume folding: this pause takes about 30 seconds.
Remove from the heat when the folds are set but still glossy and coated with a little creamy, runny egg: a thin unset film should remain between them. Off the heat, add the chives, stir twice and immediately serve on or beside the toast: the residual heat finishes setting the eggs in 30 seconds. Add 3 turns of the pepper mill and a pinch of fleur de sel over the eggs, and serve, dipping the bread into the tomato juices.

On your plate

Recipe

499 kcal · protein 21 g · carbs 41 g · fat 27 g

Quantities per person

110 g Eggs
70 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
14.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
3 g Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend)
4 g Chives
80 g Cherry tomatoes
1.25 g Fine salt
0.25 g Black peppercorns
0.25 g Fleur de sel

Cooking tips

Cook at the last moment: scrambled eggs do not keep well once cooked. Never pour them into a smoking pan: over a medium-low heat, the oil should simply become fluid, otherwise a crust forms beneath the eggs. For firmer eggs, leave them on the heat for 20 seconds more, no longer. For a dairy meal, replace the egg-cooking oil with 15 g butter and add 1 tbsp (20 g) labneh or thick cream off the heat, to stop the cooking and make the eggs creamy; the recipe then becomes dairy. With a two-slot toaster, start the first batch 3 minutes before putting the pan on the heat and keep it warm on top of the toaster; start the second batch with the pan.

Equipment : 22–24 cm non-stick frying pan, flexible spatula, four-slot toaster, pepper mill, bowl and ramekin

The scrambled eggs and za’atar bread pairing of Israeli breakfasts, where bread is dipped in olive oil and za’atar.

Scrambled eggs with chives, za’atar toast and cherry tomatoes

Method

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On your plate

Recipe

Cooking tips

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220 g	Eggs 4 medium eggs, weighed without shells
140 g	Bread (baguette or country loaf) 4 slices of country or sourdough bread (lehem kafri), 1.5 cm thick and about 35 g each; pareve bread (check for the marking פרווה)
29 g	Extra virgin olive oil 1 generous tbsp (12 g) for the eggs, 1 generous tbsp (12 g) for the za’atar, ½ tbsp (5 g) for the tomatoes
6 g	Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend) 2 level tsp
8 g	Chives ¼ bunch, about twenty stems, washed and checked
160 g	Cherry tomatoes 1 handful per person
2.5 g	Fine salt 1.5 g for the eggs (2 generous pinches), 1 g for the tomatoes
0.5 g	Black peppercorns 5 turns of the mill: 2 over the tomatoes, 3 over the eggs to serve
0.5 g	Fleur de sel 1 pinch over the plated eggs (optional)