Strapetsatha With Poached Eggs

One of my favourite Greek dishes contains ripe, sweet tomatoes, Feta cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, eggs. I’m speaking of course of Strapetsatha, an oft-made dish by Greeks be for breakfast or for dinner (yes, Greeks love egg dishes for dinner). Strapetsatha is traditionally made by scrambling the egg and tomato mixture and there are the extras.

You could add onion, some peppers, lightly fried slices of sausage or even change up the approach of the dish, like I did here. This version is finished off with a topping of poached eggs (rather than scrambling). I love poached eggs (think eggs benedict) and here you get to swirl oozing egg yolk into the tomato and Feta sauce.

You could poach your eggs as per usual or try this neat, modern technique where you place each egg in plastic wrap, tie it up and then poach in water. I love this dish, almost as much as the traditional one and now I have another reason to make Strapetsatha.

Don’t forget to make some homemade bread to dunk in the sauce!

Strapetsatha With Poached Eggs

(serves 4)

1 cup of sliced cured smoked sausage (say Chorizo)

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 ripe, large tomatoes, passed through  box grater

1 sweet banana pepper, diced

1 teaspoon salt + pinch of salt for poached eggs

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup crumbled Feta cheese

1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano

8 large eggs

cooking spray

1. Place  a large skillet on your stove top and add a tablespoon of oil and turn the heat to medium. Add your sausage  and brown for a minute a side then remove with a slotted spoon. Now add the remaining oil, onions, tomato, peppers and half the salt and stir in.
2. Simmer for 12-14 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the sauce is thick.  Add the sausage back in, Feta, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and reserve.
3. In the meantime, cut large pieces of plastic wrap and place in ramekins and treat the inside with cooking spray. Crack your eggs and place inside each ramekin. Season with salt and pepper and bring up the sides of the plastic, twist up the plastic and tie just above the eggs. Add about 3 inches of water into a large pot and bring up to a boil. Gently drop the eggs in the boiling water and cover then poach for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the eggs from the pot and transfer to your work surface.
4. Snip the tops off the plastic bundles and gently slide the poached eggs on to your warm tomato and Feta sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and serve family style in the skillet and good crusty bread.