The Hole-in-One Egg in the Hole

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a. fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast—because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: Egg in the hole goes from good to great—thanks to flavored mayonnaise. 

Thick, crusty, buttery toast and a runny egg, the egg in the hole (yes, you may call it something else—toad in the hole, egg in a basket, one-eyed bandit) is basically a fried egg and toast—but it’s merged into a single, wonderful unit.  It’s so cute. And it’s one of the true greats in the pantheon of breakfast foods.

It’s one of those dishes where it would seem there is no need to strive, no need to attempt improvements. However, when you learn that grilled cheese can reach new levels of greatness if made with a slick of mayonnaise rather than butter on the outside, it makes you wonder what a similar approach could do to egg in the hole. And once you start thinking about mayonnaise, isn’t it nearly impossible not to start thinking about aioli and spicy mayo and ways to subtly paint your egg in the hole in different shades of greatness?

More: Make your own mayonnaise (or aioli) without a recipe. 

So, I went there—and it worked! So far I have tried Sriracha mayo (that’s what’s in the photo), smoked paprika aioli, and aioli with chives. When spread with mayonnaise, the bread toasts up to a chestnut brown and glistens as it crisps. The flavors you stir into your mayonnaise come through noticeably, but they don’t overpower. You can make your aioli from scratch (if you are able to make aioli before 10 A.M., I salute you), but for the purposes of enjoying your morning free of muttered curse words and sore elbows, stirring crushed garlic, a little lemon, and spices and herbs into a store-bought mayo will work quite well.

Fancy Egg in the Hole

Serves 1 

1 thickly-cut slice of bread (I like a nice white bread because it fries beautifully, but you can use whole wheat)
1 tablespoon mayo
Flavors! You can really use what you like here. I like to use a squirt of Sriracha; or a little minced garlic, lemon juice, and smoked paprika; or orange zest and garlic; or a little lemon and some finely minced herbs like dill, chives, fennel, tarragon… Add a bit, taste, and adjust as you wish.
1 large egg
Salt and freshly ground pepper

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre