Ang Pompano: Eggs in Purgatory, uova in purgatorio, belongs to the great Italian tradition of cucina povera. The phrase translates to “poor kitchen,” but it’s less about scarcity than ingenuity, turning a few simple staples into something that actually satisfies.
This is everyday food. The kind you make because you’re hungry and want something good, not because you’re trying to impress anyone. It’s practical, unfussy, and built more on instinct than instruction.
Somehow this dish, eggs poached in tomato sauce, slipped right past me growing up. The bubbling red tomato sauce stands in for the fires of purgatory, while the white eggs floating in it represent souls awaiting redemption. I only came across it recently while watching A Taste of Murder on BritBox. It looked so simple and so good that I figured it was worth a try, even with my wife warning me it was one meal she’d always skipped as a kid.
Turns out, she may have been missing out.
I thought it was terrific. It works just as well for breakfast as it does for lunch or dinner, especially eaten straight from the pan with good Italian bread dragged through the sauce. After a little coaxing, Annette gave it a shot and admitted it was better than she remembered. Which, in this house, counts as a ringing endorsement.
This recipe serves 2
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced (you can use more if you'd like)
1/4 Sliced onion
1 can of crushed tomatoes
4 large eggs
Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes (to taste)
Fresh basil (optional)
Grated Parmesan (optional)
Italian bread, for serving
Instructions
In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook the garlic and onions lightly.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Simmer gently for about 8–10 minutes, until slightly thickened.
Use a spoon to make four little wells in the sauce. Crack an egg into each. Then cover the pan and cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still soft, about 4–6 minutes. If the whites are too runny you can spoon a little sauce over them.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Serve from the pan or in a bowl with Italian bread for scooping.
Readers, Would you try Eggs in Purgatory, or is that one you’d leave to the sinners? And what’s a dish you once avoided but ended up liking? Drop an answer below and be entered to win a copy of Bloodroot: Best New England Crime Stories. BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.
Ang Pompano is a mystery author, editor, publisher and blogger. He writes the Blue Palmetto Detective Agency, and the Reluctant Food Columnist series, both published by Level Best Books. In addition to his writing, Ang is a co-founder of Crime Spell Books and serves as co-editor of the Best New England Crime Stories anthology. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Annette, an artist, and their rescue dog Alfie.
Just Released!
Diet of Death
by Ang Pompano
The first in the Reluctant Food Columnist series.
Betty Ann Green is a beloved culinary icon…who doesn’t exist. She is the brilliant, beautiful illusion created by two unlikely collaborators. Behind the façade is Quincy Lazzaro, a culinarily challenged writer whose witty, sharp prose is the public face of Betty, while those flawless, genius recipes are all thanks to his octogenarian neighbor, Mary Ticarelli.
When the arrogant diet guru, Dr. Alan Tolzer, inventor of the Westport Diet, demands a face-to-face interview, Quincy reluctantly steps in as Betty’s frontman, only for Tolzer to drop dead. The police call it natural causes, but Quincy knows better. He sees it as the investigative break he’s been waiting for.
Now, caught between a crime-solving grandma, a no-nonsense detective girlfriend, and a killer who may be one step ahead, Quincy must unravel the mystery before the killer strikes again.
When It’s Time for Leaving
by Ang Pompano
Al DeLucia walked away from the police—and his past. But when his long-lost father leaves him a detective agency in Savannah, Al finds himself trapped between family secrets and a murder on the agency’s dock. Partnered with Maxine Brophy, a fierce detective who doesn’t trust him, Al is pulled into a deadly search through Savannah and the Okefenokee Swamp—where the truth about the case, and his father, may cost him everything.
Al DeLucia returns to Sachem Creek expecting a kayak race and a chance to confront his childhood bully, Abe Cromwell. Instead, he finds a dead lawyer, a web of deceit, and Abe claiming they’re brothers by DNA. Reluctantly joined by Maxine Brophy, his formidable partner and girlfriend, Al dives into a murder investigation that exposes land swindles, hidden maps, and buried family secrets. In a town where the past won’t stay buried, Al must face truths that could upend everything.
Includes “Minnie the Air Raid Warden” by Ang Pompano.
