A simple dish that I loved as a child (and still adore) is beaten eggs cooked in a small pan of bubbling melanzana affogata (or Slow-Cooked Summer Tomato and Eggplant Sauce, page 259). Here’s how to make enough for 4 servings:

　　

Ingredients

　　

Step 1

Heat 3 cups of sauce in a skillet until simmering. Crack 4 fresh eggs in a bowl and beat them with a couple pinches of salt. Pour the eggs on top of the hot sauce, raise the heat to high, and scramble up the eggs and sauce together with a fork for 1 minute. Serve hot for a great breakfast, lunch, or brunch—or supper.

　　

Step 2

Instead of scrambling the eggs, try poaching them: make an indentation in the simmering sauce, crack an egg into it; do the same for each serving. Cover the skillet, and cook slowly (about 4 minutes) until the egg is done to your liking. With a spatula, lift out a portion of sauce with an egg nestled on top, and serve.

　　From Lidia's Family table by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright (c) 2004 by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Published by Knopf.Lidia Bastianich hosts the hugely popular PBS show, "Lidia's Italian-American kitchen" and owns restaurants in New York City, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh. Also the author of Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen, she lives in Douglaston, New York. Jay Jacob's journalism has appeared in many national magazines.From the Trade Paperback edition.