Grilled Goat Cheese Egg-in-a-Hole

There’s no better way to say “I love you, ma” than with a homemade breakfast—especially when it’s this buttery brioche toast grilled to perfection with a fried egg in the middle. Both the caramelized onion and kale mixture and the goat cheese spread can be made a day ahead to speed up the cooking process. After all, mom always told you to be prepared!

Grilled Goat Cheese Egg-in-a-Hole

This recipe is dedicated to Farideh Muse, who taught me that everything is better with a fried egg and that breakfast is the most wonderful of all meals!

Yield: 4 sandwiches
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 large bunch kale, de-ribbed and shredded
1 tablespoon za’atar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh goat cheese
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon honey
Brioche bread, sliced
Mayonnaise
4 eggs

Instructions

Melt oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and toss to coat with oil.

Immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Slowly cook onions, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until they turn a golden color. Turn heat up to medium and add in kale. Sauté 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in za’atar and salt, and let mixture cook 2 minutes more. Remove from heat.

In a bowl, stir together the goat’s cheese, lemon zest and juice, and honey.

Start heating a non-stick pan on medium-low. With a cookie cutter, cut a heart shape into 1/2 of the bread slices. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on one slice of bread and place the bread mayonnaise-side down in the pan. Let brown in pan. Flip the bread and crack an egg into the cut-out hole. Cover pan with lid and let cook until the whites get hard, but the yolk is still runny.

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on the other slice of bread and put mayonnaise-side down in pan. Spread goat cheese mixture on bread and top with caramelized onions and kale. Cover and cook the sandwich for a few minutes until the bottom is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Top with the egg toast and cook 30 seconds more. Slide the sandwich onto a plate.

Season the egg with freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont