Egg, Salami & Potato Skillet
A train ride, a tram ride and a leisurely walk after, Josie of Cumin in the Cupboard and I arrived at our destination, Campo de' Fiori, the square where the oldest market in Rome is located. Only, we were there at 12:55 and the market closes at 13:00. With five minutes to spare, we both opted for breakfast, brunch or lunch. The time says it's lunch but our stomachs say it's breakfast. On top of everything, there was an exigent need for caffeine to clear the morning cobwebs in our heads.
Coming from Czech Republic, Josie was in Rome for the week, chanced upon my site at the food
blogging community and asked me to join her while she was in town. I
was excited and grateful that she emailed me. The prospect of having a non-virtual meeting with a fellow food blogger imbued a lot of excitement. It was a first for me. Speaking about food, life in foreign lands, Czech & Italian traditions, blogging, well, practically everything, it was like knowing the other person well even before this actual meeting. I think it's because we leave trickles of ourselves in the open windows of our blogs. It's a nice, comfortable zone.
Interested to get to know her blog, a picture of a beautifully composed poached egg dish greeted me when I opened her site. Yum! When I was scanning the menu of the restaurant where we stopped, my eyes riveted to the list of omelettes. Her picture of the egg dish stimulated my appetite for.... eggs. When the omelette was placed in front of me, my disappointment went rock bottom. It wasn't beautiful (But hey, looks can be deceiving too!). You see, I like feasting with my eyes before I touch my food. For that I have the habit of taking pictures of beautifully composed food. Capture the moment. But I delete them when they don't pass the taste test meaning it's not worth remembering. Now for the crucial moment, the taste test. It wasn't that good. Less than mediocre. Uhhm, that's my nice way of saying, mark a big x on this place.
Naturally, I HAD to concoct my own egg dish as soon as I could. That was lunch time the following day. This is not the first time I put together this dish. It's just that I wasn't able to grab a camera fast enough to take good pictures of them before. This time, I didn't let it escape, even if I had to let my egg run a bit cold. But that's the life of a food blogger. It's too good not to share it. Enjoy the recipe and the pictures of Campo de' Fiori.
Egg, Salami & Potato Skillet
Ingredients:Serves 2
- 3 potatoes, boiled, peeled & diced
- 1/3 teaspoon mild paprika powder (amount according to your taste)
- salt
- pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
- 100 grams diced salami
- sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 eggs
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. When it boils, drop the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.
- Sprinkle the potatoes with mild paprika powder, salt & pepper. Toss with a spoon & fork or use your hands to cover the potatoes well.
- Over medium - high heat, Heat a skillet with a small amount extra virgin olive oil. Add the salami and toast until they look crunchy. Transfer them to a plate. Set aside.
- In the same skillet, put the potatoes with the remaining drippings of the salami. Maintain a medium - high flame. Toss the potatoes constantly to avoid burning. When the edges are becoming brown and well toasted, add the salami.
- Toss them together for about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.
- Crack the eggs on the potatoes. Tip the skillet to distribute the eggs well. Turn off fire when the eggs are cooked through. Serve hot.