Tomato Garlic Linguine with a Poached Egg

So I woke up this morning not feeling a hundred percent from the festivities last night at a friend’s house warming party, and for some reason I was badly craving something with a poached egg, or even two.  Now if you know me, you know that I absolutely adore eating eggs! I like them fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, medium-boiled, poached, and well, I guess pretty much every way except raw.  I believe eggs shouldn’t be reserved only for breakfast which leads to today’s post. 

I was inspired by a recipe I drooled over the other day for a pesto pasta with a poached egg on top and threw together what I call Tomato Garlic Linguine with a Poached Egg (my apologies for the long name, but it’s worth it!).  The creaminess of the runny yolk over the garlicky noodles tossed with wilted grape tomatoes and olive oil seriously hit the spot and cured my “sickness”.  This was also the first time I ever tried poaching eggs myself and I am happy to say that it was fairly simple to do, so you can probably expect more egg poaching featured on my blog in the days to come!

Tomato Garlic Linguine with a Poached Egg (serves 2-3)

1 pound linguine

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, minced

Eggs

1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar

Olive oil

Red pepper flakes

Dried oregano

Salt and pepper

Pecorino Romano or Parmesan

1. Over medium heat, pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a pan.  Cook the halved tomatoes until slightly wrinkly.

2. Add in the garlic and desired amounts of red pepper flakes and dried oregano.  Season with salt and pepper. 

3. When the pasta is done cooking, transfer from water to the pan.  Mix well with the tomatoes and garlic.

4. Add additional olive oil if the pasta looks dry.  Lower the heat while poaching the eggs.

5. Boil water to a boil, then down to a simmer in a medium pot over medium heat.  Add in vinegar.

6. Crack one egg into a small bowl and gently drop into the water.  Use a slotted wooden spoon to push the whites together to maintain the shape.

7. For runny eggs, remove after about 2 ½ minutes.  Place each egg on a paper towel to remove excess water.

8. Plate the pasta and top each bowl with a poached egg.

9.  Sprinkle some grated cheese over the dish.