Italian Scramble and Holla-Pesto
Serving platter and ramekin made by Crate and Barrel.
It’s Quarantino de Mayo, and I know this isn’t Mexican food, but the jalapeño pesto honestly could work on tacos, burritos, or quesadillas. It has a spicy kick, but won’t catch your mouth on fire. For lunch today, I put the pesto on top of soft scrambled eggs filled with dry coppa (a Corsican cold cut), mozzarella cheese, onions, and whole lotta garlic. Think of it as an open-faced sandwich, but with the volume turned up!
Ingredients:
Jala-Pesto:
4 large jalapeños, halved lengthwise
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Italian Soft Scramble
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
8-ounces dry coppa, diced (if you can’t find this, use salami)
1/2 cup onion, finely diced
8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 large eggs, beaten
6 ounces mozzarella, diced
Parsley leaves (for garnish)
Toasted Rustic Bread (ciabatta, focaccia, baguette, etc.)
Steps:
Pre-heat your broiler oven (500 degrees). On a baking sheet, toss your halved jalapeños with some EVOO and salt, and bake until the skins blister black. Roasting your peppers will mellow the spiciness and give your pesto a smokey taste. Place the blistered jalapeños in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam for 10 minutes. Afterwards, remove the charred skin.
In a food processor, place the jalapeños, parsley, pine nuts, and garlic, and pulse until finely chopped. On low, drizzle in the EVOO until mixed. With the processor off, manually fold in the parmesan. I don’t like to process cheese as the heat of the blades could melt it. Adjust seasoning to your liking with salt and pepper. Set pesto aside.
In a large nonstick pan, heat up the EVOO over medium-high heat. Toss in the dry coppa for a minute to let some of the fat render, and then add your onions. Cook for about 3 minutes until the onions soften. Add you garlic and cook for 1 minute (do NOT burn).
Turn the heat down to medium-low. Add in the beaten eggs and cook them low and slow. This will give you a creamier, spoonable egg (not that rubbery shit we grew up with). You’re going to want nice soft curds, but cook to your liking — I won’t hate on you. 30 seconds before you’re about to pull the eggs off the burner, toss in the mozzarella cheese, so it begins to melt.
Add the eggs on top of your toasted bread, and the residual heat will continue to melt the cheese. Garnish with parsley and add a generous amount of the jalapeño pesto on top.
Don’t forget to down a margarita to cool you down from the spiciness!
