Pancetta Egg Cups

This past Saturday morning, I had an 8:30 appointment to take Chyna to the vet. 8:30…on a Saturday morning? A small piece of my soul shriveled up when I was told that was the only opening they had that day. *Sniff* *Sniff* With a heavy heart and bleary eyes, I awoke much earlier than my weekend doctrine usually dictated and made the journey to the vet…

After enduring the cacophony of several upset dogs and cats including my own, a new furry fleece courtesy of my shedding pug, and a minor scrape on my finger from a dog treat exercise gone horribly awry, I trudged back to the comfort of my woman cave to start about the business of humanizing myself from the cranky early weekend morning monster I had morphed into.

The first order of business? A cup of D&D coffee. Check. Second order of business? Sustenance. Hmmmm… Faced with the question of breakfast, I perused my refrigerator for what would be good, quick, and not require so much effort as to erode away the caffeine bliss that I was currently experiencing. As if on cue, 2 things jumped out at me from the depths of the fridge… pancetta and eggs.

Over the last few months, I’ve fast become a pancetta convert and loyalist. Where this meaty piece of awesome has been all my life, I’ll never know, but I will thank this salad for showing me the one true cured meat path. Taking a riff off of something I saw Rachel Ray do with prosciutto, I decided to make breakfast cups using the pancetta, baked in a muffin tin, as a vessel with which to hold my sunny side up eggs. A quick foraging trip through my freezer yielded some quickie potato hash and, ladies and gents, GENIUS was born!

I give you pancetta egg cups! I filled mine with a spoonful of potato hash, but realistically, you can fill these with anything you want or not at all…let your imagination, creativity, and pantry supply be your guide. These were well received by the house and were a snap to put together. Coupled with my heaven-sent cup of coffee, this breakfast was just what the doctor ordered to wash away the early weekend morning blues!

Pancetta Egg Cups
As envisioned by TastyDesu

Serves 6

Ingredients

6 Slices of pancetta, about 1/8″ thick (I got mine from the deli counter)
6 Eggs
1/2 cup potato hash (I used a frozen bag of hash and peppers from the grocer)
Salt
Pepper
Oregano (optional)
Non stick cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray. Gently lay each slice of pancetta in each muffin well, pressing into the corners at the bottom to form a cup. Bake pancetta for 8 minutes until slightly crispy. Remove from oven. Pancetta should be slightly crispy and folded in on itself a little.

Spoon a tablespoon or so of potato hash into each pancetta cup. Crack an egg into each muffin tin and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and oregano if using. Return to oven, baking for another 8-10 minutes or until egg whites are no longer runny. Remove from heat and allow to cool 2 minutes. Gently run the flat edge of a butter knife around the periphery of each muffin tin and then lift each egg cup out. Serve.

~ by tastydesu on April 28, 2010.