Green Eggs and Ham with Ital-Tots and Garlic-Cheesy Toast
- Level: Easy
- Yield: 4 servings
- Total: 35 min
- Prep: 15 min
- Cook: 20 min
Ingredients
1 sack frozen tater tots, any brand
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
Green Sauce:
1/2 cup baby spinach or arugula, 2 handfuls of leaves
1/2 cup fresh basil, about 10 to 12 leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts (pignoli), a palmful
1 small clove garlic, cracked from skin
Salt and pepper
2 rounded spoonfuls grated Parmigiano or Romano
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it
Eggs and Ham:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 pound breakfast ham, chopped
8 large eggs
A splash half-and-half or milk
Salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Open tots and pour 4 portions onto a nonstick cookie sheet. Sprinkle the tots with salt and dried seasonings and toss them around a bit to get the herbs to stick to the tots ¿ as the frost starts to melt the flavorings will set into place. Bake the tots until crisp, about 12 minutes.
- Combine ingredients for green sauce in food processor and process until sauce forms; you are making a pesto sauce for the eggs. Set pesto aside and reserve.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and butter to pan, then add the chopped ham and cook to lightly brown at edges, 3 minutes or so.
- Remove the tots from the oven and switch the broiler on to toast your bread.
- Beat eggs and splash of half-and-half or milk with salt and pepper. Add eggs to the ham in the skillet and scramble them up with the ham to desired doneness and remove from heat.
- Toast bread under hot broiler, 30 seconds on each side. Rub with cracked garlic then spread with butter and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan, the diced mozzarella and ground black pepper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the tomato sauce, oregano, crushed red pepper, and the garlic clove from the toast. Cover with plastic wrap and heat for 2 minutes. Serve as dipping sauce for the tots.
- Stir the pesto into the ham and eggs, making them "green", and serve with garlic-cheese toast on the side.