Egg in a hole
An egg fried in a window cut from buttery bread, so you get crisp golden toast and a tender egg from one pan in ten minutes.
- 10 min total
- 10 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 1
- About $1.01 a serving
- 390 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: It’s ready in 10 minutes, start to finish.
Ingredients
For 1 servings.
- 2 slices white bread, or any sandwich bread
- 1 tbsp butter, divided
- 2 large eggs
From your pantry
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
Each serving has about 390 calories, 17 g protein, 28 g carbs and 23 g fat, and costs about $1.01 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No butter? Ghee works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Press a drinking glass into the middle of each slice of bread to cut out a 2½-inch circle, and keep the circles.
Dolly’s tip: The little circles toast in the pan alongside, and they’re the best part for dipping.half the butter in a large nonstick over medium heat.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Medium heat
Lay the bread slices and circles in the pan and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until underneath.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Flip the bread and circles, drop the rest of the butter into the holes, then crack an egg into each hole.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Crack each egg into a cup first, then tip it in. It’s much easier to aim.Sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover the pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the whites are fully set and the yolks are just starting to .
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Slide onto a plate with the toasted circles on the side.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop plans your breakfasts along with the week’s dinners, puts what you need on the same grocery list, and walks you through each step.
