Dressing Up Breakfast

Breakfast might be my favorite meal of the day. It’s definitely in the top three. 😉 I usually have an egg for breakfast with a piece of homemade sourdough toast, which I savor every day, but it does mean that eggs on the weekend are not really special. Until… crispy eggs in bacon breadcrumbs! This takes a breakfast of 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon and a piece of toast and turns it into something a little fancy on a bed of arugula. I’ll get out of bed for this any weekend!

Fresh Breadcrumbs

First, you will need fresh breadcrumbs. Fresh breadcrumbs are made from fresh bread. They are not already toasted and this is important because these breadcrumbs are going to get toasted in the skillet with the bacon and the eggs. So, whether you have sourdough bread, a baguette, some ciabatta or just a couple of pieces of whatever bread you have, cut off the crusts and chop the bread into coarse fresh breadcrumbs.

All About Bacon

Bacon is magic. You can use your favorite bacon for this recipe – thin slice, thick slice, whatever. You can learn all about the best methods of cooking bacon here, but basically, you need to render the fat of the bacon and cook the bacon until it is crispy. Set it aside and the chop it into small pieces.

Making Bacon Breadcrumbs

The fresh breadcrumbs then get toasted in the bacon fat. So good. Toss them around and cook until they are just starting to brown. You don’t want to go too far here because they are going to continue to cook and brown after you add the eggs. Still, make sure they are starting to crisp up nicely. Then add the bacon pieces to the crumbs and you now have bacon breadcrumbs.

How to Make Crispy Eggs in Bacon Breadcrumbs

Once you have the bacon crumbs ready to go, make four holes in the crumbs and crack an egg into each hole. Turn the head down to medium and cover with a lid. The lid is to trap the steam and cook the egg white. We won’t be flipping these eggs over, so it’s important to cover. While the eggs are cooking, you can tuck more crumbs toward the eggs so that they stick to the eggs. Then season with salt (careful the bacon is salty) and freshly ground black pepper before transferring them to plates of arugula.

Finishing with Sherry Vinegar

This may seem like overkill at the end, but this dish really does improve with a little acid sprinkled over the top. Sherry vinegar is delicious, but lemon juice works well too. Once the vinegar mixes with the broken yolk, it creates a sort of dressing for the arugula and brightens the dish. The crisp of the breadcrumbs and the smoky salty bacon just sends it over the top. So simple, yet so good! Fancy.

Crispy Eggs in Bacon Breadcrumbs