Peppers and Eggs Brunch

I spent my 20s in Philadelphia and, like most Philadelphians, a good chunk of my diet came from the Italian delis anchoring almost every neighborhood. It wasn't until I left Philadelphia that I realized Philly Italian deli food doesn't exist everywhere. To this day I haven't found a version of the Philly Italian hoagie outside of the city that even comes close to a Philly Italian hoagie.

One standard that apparently isn't standard everywhere is the pepper and egg hoagie, a staple in any deli open for breakfast. It's exactly what it sounds like - sautéed peppers (usually green peppers) in scrambled eggs on a soft hoagie roll. Some simple combinations are just delicious. But I have a box full of vegetables to eat, so my breakfasts are generally not that simple. I came up with the recipe below as a homage to Philly delis - it's amped up but it stars those flavors. Buon Appetito!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 English muffin (gluten-free version here)

1/4 fresh green pepper, or about 2 tbsp. roasted peppers, chopped

1-3 tbsp. roasted tomatoes (1 roasted Roma, 4-6 cherry, etc), reheated*

2 tsp carrot top pesto (any pesto would probably work)

1/2 cup chopped salad greens (baby arugula and frisee are my favorites)

pinch of granulated onion

pinch of smoked paprika

a good balsamic vinegar for drizzling (see recommendations here)

a good olive oil for drizzling

kosher salt, to taste

fresh ground pepper, to taste

Toast the English muffin. Drizzle each half with olive oil, spread evenly with pesto, and lay tomatoes on top. You can mash them slightly with a fork if you'd like to spread them evenly, but I tend to leave them as is so that every bite is different.

Wisk eggs with granulated onion, paprika, salt and pepper. Heat a small sauté pan to medium heat. If you are using fresh green peppers, start by sautéing them until soft and then add in the eggs and scramble. If you are using roasted peppers, mix them into the egg mixture and then scramble.

Top muffin and tomatoes with scrambled eggs and salad greens. Drizzle with Balsamic and serve.

*be careful with the tomatoes here - the strength of the flavors can vary significantly depending on the kind of tomato. I once used roasted Gem tomatoes and they were so strong that they completely overpowered the dish. The second time I used them, I only used one half (about a teaspoon) per muffin and it was plenty. If you don't have roasted tomatoes, rehydrated sun dried tomatoes are a good substitute but use sparingly.