Zucchini Egg Nests

ZUCCHINI EGG NESTS WITH BUTTER PANKO BREAD CRUMBS AND BROWNED PEARL ONIONS

This is the ultimate breakfast or brunch situation for the savory people out there. I used to be a sweet breakfast and brunch kind of gal, but that faded away with age.

When you have brunch, you don’t really think of zucchini, but it’s such a lighter, healthier option for the first part of your day. Take a short break from the potatoes, and sauté up a few nests of zucchini noodles, and fry up a nice little egg in there for a zucchini egg nest.

To make this fall in line with Spring coming, this is a fun play on a nest, with the added buttered panko bread crumbs, and sautéed pearl onions. Now these are the cocktail pearl onions, because pearl onions in the produce section are very large, and not necessarily bite friendly when you eat this. I use cocktail pearl onions from the jar in the condiments sections because they have a pickled taste to them, so it’s actually a sweet and savory taste combo for this dish.

There’s pesto involved when cooking the zucchini noodles. You can make it yourself, or you can buy it at the store. Which to my advantage, I bought at Heinen’s because it’s super tasty and works so well with this dish. Not to mention you don’t have to clean a food processor from pesky pesto leftovers.

I also sprinkle this dish with Heinen’s 24 month aged parmesan cheese, dashes of Tabasco hot sauce, and chop up some basil roses for garnish.

For that perfect, not-to-runny yolk from the egg, I only cover the skillet for about 4 minutes. Check it at 3 just to be sure, but I needed an extra minute for the whites to fully cook while the yolk was visibly “jiggly.”

ZUCCHINI EGG NESTS RECIPE

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 7 min | Serving Size: 4 (pending egg count)

Ingredients

• 2-3 glugs of olive oil

• 16oz spiralized zucchini noodles, or 1 pack Heinen’s spiralized zucchini noodles

• 4 eggs, 1 egg per person

• 4 tablespoons pesto

• 1 cup italian herb panko bread crumbs

• 1/2 stick unsalted butter

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 2 tablespoons chili infused oil

• 16-20 cocktail pearl onions, pan sautéed in a little olive oil for 5 minutes on medium-high heat

• 1/2 cup Heinen’s 24 month aged parmesan cheese, or available parmesan cheese, shredded

• Tabasco sauce for topping if desired

• 4-5 basil leaves, rolled up together and sliced to make ribbon rose coils for topping

• salt, ground black pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

Instructions

If you do not have spiralized noodles, cut the stem off the zucchini and spiralize on the smallest setting. Roughly chop the pile a few times so the noodles aren’t too long. If you do have the spiralized zucchini noodles, cut the extra long ones so that they aren’t too hard to make into a nest shape later.

Before you start cooking the zucchini, sauté the pearl onions first as listed in ingredients for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat to get a nice browning from the olive oil. Set these aside on a plate.

Also brown the italian herb panko bread crumbs in butter in the same skillet as the onions to save cleaning time and also use the olive oil from the cooking of onions. Add in the butter on medium-high heat, and then the bread crumbs. Keep stirring intermittently, and after 4 minutes, add in the chili infused oil if available. Cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until nicely golden. Also set aside in a small bowl.

Heat the olive in a large pan over medium heat. Add the zucchini to the pan and lightly sauté just until softened, about 2 minutes. Add in the pesto and mix in while it cooks for about 30 seconds more.

Using a spatula or wooden spoon, separate the zucchini into four round piles on the skillet. Make a small well in the middle of each one. Crack an egg into each well.

Cover and cook untouched for about 3 minutes. When the whites are set and the yolks are still runny, they’re ready, but if you prefer the whites cooked more, cover for another minute. If you also want the yolks to be cooked, break with spatula while it cooks for another minute.

After the nests are cooked, remove from skillet to plate.

Season with desired amount of salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes.

Add desired amount of buttered bread crumbs around the plate rim and over the zucchini.

Place the amount of pearl onions you want around the actual egg.

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Dash some hot sauce if desired, and place basil ribbons where you like.

Enjoy!