Strapatsada

In Greece and Cyprus we often cook seasonal vegetables ‘me avga’, which is to simply cook them and then finish by scrambling through eggs. You will find everything from tomatoes to potatoes, courgettes to asparagus. So whilst strapatsada may look and feel like a breakfast dish, it is in fact eaten at all times of day, and is even eaten cold. It can be eaten as a light meal or as part of a meze, however being tomato based, I feel like strapatsada lends itself to being a great brunch dish too. Serve as is with toasted pita, or as part of a larger spread with olives, cucumber batons, radishes and grilled loukaniko (a spiced Greek sausage).

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 750g/1lb 10oz ripe tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped or coarsely grated and skin discarded
• 8 large free-range eggs
• 100g/3½oz feta
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• toast or pitta bread, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a low–medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Fry for 10 minutes, until it starts to soften and become sticky. Stir in the paprika, sugar, vinegar and most of the dried oregano (reserve a large pinch). Fry for another minute, then add the tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper. Gently bring to the boil, reduce the heat just a little and then leave to cook for around 15 minutes. Most of the liquid needs to have evaporated and the tomatoes should start to gently caramelise.

2. Crack the eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Beat and then pour into the pan with the tomatoes. Lower the heat a little more and scramble the eggs and tomatoes together. Keep stirring and cooking over a low heat. When the eggs are half cooked, remove from the heat. Keep stirring off the heat until the eggs are creamy and silky. Sprinkle with the remaining oregano and crumble over the feta. Serve spooned over toast, with pitta bread or as part of a breakfast spread.

Strapatsada