My Twist on Eggs in Purgatory- Tomato Stew with Poached Eggs and Blue Cheese

Since we have chickens, we always have fresh eggs.  I despise food waste about as much as I dislike eating breakfast every morning so sometimes I have to find creative ways to get eggs into other meals throughout the day to keep from having to throw them away.  I know, I know... some people would be happy to have that problem.

This is my take on the classic "Eggs in Purgatory."  I changed a few things in the recipe to suit what we actually like in this house and I got it right for us so I thought I'd share this one with you so you can make it for yourself.

There are no fresh tomatoes right now so I had to use a can (GASP!) that I picked up at the grocery.  It will still be a few months before the tomato plants start producing and I can put away enough of them to last a full year.  I can't wait to taste this with fresh tomatoes.

If you don't have access to freshly made blue cheese, I suggest trying freshly grated parmesan in this recipe.  Please do NOT use the powdered crap out of a can, it's really just not the same.

Ingredients

• 28 ounces of crushed or diced tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons basil (I used purple)
• 1 Tablespoon oregano
• Salt and pepper to your taste
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• Fresh blue cheese

Prep time: 5 minutes  Cook time: about 30 minutes  Yields: 4 servings

How to Put it Together

 
Choose a pan that is wide and deep at the sides.  A nice iron skillet or large frying pan will work for this.  On medium heat, put the olive oil into the pan and let it heat up.

Once the oil has heated up, add your garlic slices.  Stir them around a bit and let them cook for a minute or tow.  DO NOT let them brown.

Add your tomatoes and stir.

Add the salt, pepper, scallions, onion, basil and oregano and give it a stir.

This is what it should look like once everything is added and stirred in.

Cover it with a lid and turn the heat down to medium low.  All it to simmer for about 20 minutes but do stir it occasionally.  You want the herbs to infuse and the tomatoes to cook.

This is what it should look like once it has simmered.  Sorry the pic does look a bit blurry in the middle, that's the steam.

Now it is time to add the eggs!  Crack an egg into a small bowl or measuring cup.  Let the lip of the bowl/cup go a tiny bit into the tomato stew and then slightly tip it forward while the egg slides out.  The tipping will cause some of the egg white to cover the yolk.  Do this with all four eggs in different areas of the pan.

Allow the eggs to poach in the stew for a few minutes until they are as done as you like them.

While the eggs are poaching, you can get the blue cheese ready.  I personally like crumbles so I sliced off the amount that I wanted and crumbled them up.

When the eggs are done, it is ready to eat.

Spoon out the tomato stew and top with the egg.  Right before serving, add in the blue cheese crumbles and enjoy the yummy!