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Breakfast

Eggs in Tomatoes for Breakfast

A baked dish of eggs placed inside tomatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, and ham.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Eggs in Tomatoes for Breakfast

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes.

Fill and bake

  1. Place a raw egg into each tomato.

  2. Season each tomato with coarse sea salt, black pepper, paprika, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

  3. Add a teaspoon of chopped onion and a teaspoon of chopped ham to each tomato.

  4. Bake until the eggs are firm.

  5. Serve with toast.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Raw eggs
Set and firm up as they bake, forming the filling's body.
Ripe, firm tomatoes
Act as edible cups that hold the egg and gently soften while baking.
Chopped ham
Adds savoury, salty flavour and a little browning to the filling.
Chopped onion
Adds aroma and sharpness that cuts through the richness of the egg.

The step that matters

Bake until the eggs are firm. Egg proteins set between about 145°F and 160°F, so underbaking leaves runny whites while overbaking makes the yolks dry and rubbery. Check for a set white with a still-soft yolk, if preferred, and remove promptly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, egg, pepper, sauce, ham):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, egg, pepper, sauce, ham. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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