The friend with whom I was supposed to have brunch today canceled at the last minute. While, as an introvert, this delighted me no end (no offense to my friend and fellow introverts will understand), it did leave me with a slight culinary dilemma, namely wanting brunch food while no longer being forced to leave my house to socialize...
The egg sandwich above was a bit of a triumph. I am a savory brunch person so I really enjoyed all of the umami hits that it contained. That being said, I must admit that this dish screamed for a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon so I highly suggest that you make it for dinner instead of brunch, with a side salad.
1 slice of your favorite bread
1/2 a yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 egg
1 tsp chopped fresh sage
1 Tbsp olive oil (seems like a lot, but much will remain in the pan. You just need it to lubricate the recipe.)
1 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Add one teaspoon of the olive oil, the sliced onion and some salt and pepper to a frying pan. Turn on the heat to medium low and cook slowly, letting the onion soften, and stirring it from time to time to keep it from burning. After 5 minutes of this process, add a tablespoon of water to the pan and continue to cook the onions while you get on with the rest of the sandwich. Stir from time to time.
Heat an additional teaspoon of the oil in a separate frying pan over medium heat and, as soon as the oil starts shimmering, add your piece of bread to the pan. Toast on each side for a minute or two until the bread is crispy and golden. Keep a close eye on this so that the bread does not burn. Set aside on a plate.
Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the pan. Heat until shimmering. Incline the pan slightly so that the oil pools to one spot in the pan and ensure that it is very hot. Add the chopped sage to the inclined pan; it will immediately cause the oil to bubble up and become crispy. Remove as much of it as you can from the pan with a spatula and set aside on a paper towel to drain off the excess oil.
Place the pan properly on the heat and crack in your egg. Cook sunny side up, adding a tiny amount of salt, until you reach your preferred level of "yolk doneness". As you can see above, I slightly overcooked mine as I was looking forward to the yolk pooling into the onions.
By this time, the onions should be silky and melt-in your-mouth tender, and all of the water should have evaporated. Spoon them onto the toast and immediately sprinkle with the grated Parmesan. Top with the egg and the frizzled sage and enjoy.