Once in a very long time, something comes along that makes me say: Why didn’t somebody think of that sooner? And why wasn’t that somebody me? A new ‘Breakfast Bake’ idea that checks all the boxes: It’s cheap, easy,quick, swavoury, and respectful of our nutritional needs…
Not to mention, giving ancient, irreplaceable Focaccia the prevailing ‘newstalgia’ treatment. And ad-ding nutritional value with a classic breakfast ‘flavour’…
Thinking outside the pan
Lots of new and re-imagined meal ideas require only the ability to think outside the box. And today’s recipe/technique proves that assertion beyond question.
Specificallly, it involves thinking outside the now-classic Breakfast bake casserole dish. But not really too far! What if I told you you could serve an all-new breakfast treat simply by combining a few old, favourite, smile-generating ideas? And doing so in such a way that the odds are better than even you could carry it off claiming all the credit?
Credit aside, picture this: A pan of classic Focaccia bread adorned by time-tested savoury flavours, and breakfast-ized by the addition of beautiful, sunny-side baked eggs?
What you need
Focaccia is the quintessential Italian flat bread: Fast, easy, hard to screw up, infinitely-adaptable. So fundamentally Italian that some folks whip up a batch when they need an ‘instant’ Pizza crust. But today’s example is even faster and easier… It’s ‘no-knead’!
Other ingredients read like a role-call of traditional breakfast staples: mild (uncooked) breakfast sausage, Shredded Cheddar Cheese, Cherry Tomatoes, fresh Rosemary, and Olive oil.
Think outside the ‘crisis’
The kicker in this dish is the eggs. Pretend there’s no egg shortage and eggs have returned to a rea-sonable price. I’ve heard it’s easier to get Small and Medium sized eggs during the avian flu ‘era’ than it is to get the usual ‘Grade A Large’ ones most recipes call for, and most breakfast diners expect to see on their plates. In this particular application, nobody will notice the difference.
Focaccia artists know it’s essential to poke the slab of raw dough all over the top to ensure it rises evenly across the sheet when baking. For today’s Breakfast Bake, it’s further necessary o divide the dough to allow you to create 2 layers, between which you can infiltrate cheese and sausage crumbles, as per prep instruction no. 4. Space the the large depressions to hold your eggs so each will end up in the centre of a 4 in. / 10 cm square serving of the finished product.
Crack an egg into each of the large depressions, taking care not to break the yolk. Complete assembly according to the directions in Step no. 4. Bake as directed.
Tips…
DO follow the technique details of the source recipe closely when making this dish for the first time. You’ll get a good feel about how, and how much you can tweak it pretty quickly.
BE THINKING what other toppings and additions you could use in variations of this dish.
DO consider coming up with sweet-ish or swicy versions in the future. Though a swicy one would, I think, be a little too much flavour-wise for a breakfast ‘feature’.
My take
One of the things I love about this dish is, you can eat it with a knife and fork or pick it up in your hands like a slice of toast. I prefer to use the knife and fork, to ensure I get every last drop of that beautiful runny – though fully cooked – egg yolk.
You’ll find that, as filling as this dish is, some big eaters will come back looking for seconds. Be prepared! use your largest sheet pan and press out the dough as necessary to cover. Or you might just want to double the recipe!
~ Maggie J.