This weekend I decided to whip up a quick and easy breakfast that hit all of the right spots: a crispy, tangy egg sandwich. Thanks to our old friends butter and pickled onions, it’s a cinch to throw together a tasty sandwich in just a few minutes.

Throw some butter in your pan.  It really doesn’t need to be that much; 1/4 to 1/2 tbsp is probably plenty. While that’s melting, take two slices of bread and cut small holes in the middle. Try to cut the holes as central as possible to maintain the structural integrity of the slices. I used the lids from one-pint mason jars, which were the perfect size to cut holes out of slices of white bread. 

Throw the bread on the pan and move them around a bit with your hand to make sure the bottom of the bread is evenly covered in butter.  Press down on the bread to try to form a seal between the bread and the pan. It won’t be perfect but do as well as you can. This will be important in the next step.

Crack an egg into each slice of bread, being careful not to break the yolk. If you did a good job pressing the bread to the pan, the egg white should stay within the slice of bread (even if it doesn’t, it’s not a big deal, just try to keep the egg as much within the bread as possible). 

Here’s where you can vary it up a little bit. I put some slices of deli-sliced turkey in the pan to crisp up, as well as the cut-out bread circles to sop up the rest of the butter. Any type of thinly-sliced meat would do well here.  I also heaped a generous helping of everything-but-the-bagel seasoning to make sure everything would get nice and salted. Keep it cooking for a couple of minutes, and then cover your pan. This will trap the heat and cause the top of the eggs to cook, because the bottom is probably already getting there due to contact with the pan. 

Here’s where you need to watch it like a hawk. As soon as the yolks turn from yellow to pink, take off the lid and remove the eggs from heat. This will help keep the yolks runny and delicious, as every second you let it continue to cook will harden the yolks. There’s nothing wrong with making this sandwich with over-hard yolks, but if you want a nice runny egg sandwich, this is how you do it. 

Now it’s time to assemble. Check your toast to make sure the egg at the base has set, and transfer everything to a plate. Put the meat onto one of the slices, and either eat your crispy, buttery bread circles by themselves, or throw them into the sandwich for a little more substance. I would recommend finding something tangy and acidic to add, given how fatty and bready it’s going to be, like some picked onions, roasted red peppers, or maybe a banana pepper. If you don’t have any of that, a dash of hot sauce (especially a vinegar-based one, like Tobasco) would do the trick. 

Build your egg sandwich, grab a mug of coffee, and enjoy your Saturday.