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Greek Scrambled Eggs
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 2large, ripe, firm tomatoes
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1garlic clove, finely chopped (optional)
- 1tablespoon fresh or dried mint or oregano
- 4large eggs, slightly beaten
- ½cup grated Greek kefalotyri or feta cheese
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Step 1
Lop off a dime-size piece of the base of the tomato using a sharp knife. Grate the tomato from the base along the coarse side of an upright hand grater.
- Step 2
In a 10-inch frying pan over medium heat, warm the olive oil and add the garlic. Cook for a minute or so, careful not to burn. Add the tomatoes. Cook them until all their water has cooked off and all that’s left is thick pulp, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Pour in the eggs and herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Stir all together with a wooden spoon. Remove when the eggs are cooked to desired doneness, anywhere between 5 and 8 minutes.
- Step 4
Transfer to serving plates and sprinkle with grated Greek kefalotyri cheese.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Recipe calls for 2 large, ripe and firm tomatoes. Unless you have your own garden, or a really good farm stand, you are not going to find this ingredient-and even under best circumstances, maybe 2 months a year. To use the out of season drek from supermarkets would be a crime! Perhaps the chef could tell us that it would be OK (not as good, but permissible) to substitute 1/2 cup or so of good quality canned tomatoes. Would make things a bit more practical for the off season!
JimF
This is one of my favorite ways to make eggs with a custard-like texture. Since I am in Mexico, I add rings of dried chilies when the garlic is nearly browned.
When the egg is ready to serve, I top with a spoonful of thick yogurt as well as any good dry cheese I have available. Chopped cilantro and avocado are good additions on the table to add as you like.
This is similar to a "Persian omelet." Fresh tomatoes are best, but can use drained canned Plum tomatoes in a pinch. The Persian version is simpler if you have saffron on hand. Melt a little butter with the saffron (to taste). Cook the tomatoes until the water is cooked off, stir in eggs. When they're close to cooked add the saffron butter mixture and finish. Season with salt/pepper to taste. Serve with flat bread, we like it toasted. To get fancy, serve with feta, herbs, walnuts, etc.
I had all the ingredients on hand except the kefalotyri cheese, but I did have some nice feta, so feta it was and it worked just fine thanks. Quick, easy and delicious and good for lunch too, not just breakfast.
The recipe indicates that if you don't have fresh herbs, you can substitute an equal amount of dried. That seems like bad advice. Most recipes indicate that if you use fresh herbs, you'd want to use 2 to 4 times as much as dried. I used 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and it was fine.
When fresh tomatoes are out of season you can use Little Cherub cherry tomatoes or San Marzano whole or crushed canned tomatoes instead.
I recall being charged about $25 for this dish on Santorini some summers ago during the financial crisis. The view was lovely, the eggs and tomatoes were quite good but the bill was a shock. But reading the recipe brings back the Aegean Sea in August. They used cherry tomatoes which were said to be a local , not to be missed, treat. I'd suggest that even off season grocery store cherry tomatoes have a lot of flavor. So they would be a great substitute.
I tried to grate the tomato, ended up just smashing it against the grater (maybe my grater isn't sharp enough). So I chopped it the tomato up and it turned out fine.
If you are feeling especially lazy, use salsa instead of grating the tomatoes. With the eggs and cheese, it is tasty and simple if not “Greek”.
Actually, the ratio of fresh to dry herbs is 2 to 1. Think about it, the dried herbs are more concentrated than the fresh herbs. So, if it calls for 2 teaspoons fresh herb, use 1 teaspoon dried herb.
I love how the eggs turned a little bit custardy in texture by grating the tomato instead of chopping it up. I replaced the herbs with fresh basil i had and added feta - it was delicious!! I will definitely make this for guests - not just myself - next time. Yummy!
In a pinch, a 15 oz can of tomatoes (and their juices) works great!
I used canned crushed tomatoes, worked out great!
I think the difference between good and bad tomatoes is not as noticeable when they are cooked. However, I think canned would be a good substitute in this recipe. And if they are peeled, you can skip the messy grating task, just break them up with a spoon as they cook.
I've made this for the past 3 nights for dinner. Simple and quick to make, and completely addicting. I added a handful of finely chopped spinach, and served it on toast.
I am one of those people who, excuse the expression, gags if I see any egg-white in my scrambled eggs (although I can eat hard cooked egg whites and firmly cooked egg white in eggs over medium). So, I prepared this dish with fully beaten eggs. Delish!
I've made this twice now and it's amazing. I use halved cherry tomatoes instead of grated. Garlic powder works well in place of garlic if you're feeling lazy, or add both and some red pepper flakes. I used goat cheese because it's what I have on hand and it's amazing in this. Top with some scallions for color. Definitely a keeper, and so easy to make.
Use a can of tomatoes with jalapeno. Cook it down a bit to reduce the water content. Add the eggs and some feta. Delicious and easy. Serve with some bread.
Like others have mentioned, grating the tomatoes is a must to separate skin from flesh. It took me only five mins to cook tomatoes down. I added paprika and turmeric to the tomato mixture. I also topped with olives.
Longtime favorite recipe! Didn’t have tomatoes today and this recipe works very well with a bit of tomato paste, skip step 1
The main reason for grating the tomatoes in Greek cooking is to separate the flesh from the skin, so don’t try to force the skin through the grate. You should end up with liquified tomatoes on one side of the grater, and skin that you can dispose of on the other.
This is delicious! Followed the recipe exactly.
Took much longer to cook the tomatoes down, with regular garden tomatoes, so important to consider that. However, delicious!
This is one of the best meal for someone who's on a diet. Low carb but very delicious.
I love this recipe. I make it all the time! Just use the best tomatoes you can find. And yes, grating a tomato just turns it into pulp but the texture is perfect, so just don’t overthink it.
Excellent eggs. Did leave out the garlic. Anything with Feta is great. Used dried oregano, but only 1 tsp. A Tbs of dried oregano would have been overpowering.
Since I prefer the flavor of fresh herbs to dry, I opted for the fresh dill I had on hand instead of dried oregano.
This makes a perfect WFH lunch - you can piece it together quickly (but enough time to shift gears) and result in a beautiful and light little meal.
This sounds wonderful. Both of my Yia Yias (from the mountains of Greece) made it with tomato paste. It was comfort food, but never looked very appetizing. I look forward to trying this.
Most of the cultures in the Mediterranean region have a dish like this. It was a favorite ručak (lunch, the main meal) of mine when I was an exchange student in Zagreb, cooked by my Croatian host mother and served with boiled potatoes. It was called “sataraš,” no doubt related linguistically to this dish as well.
Amazing flavors in such a simple dish! For a single serving, I grated three largish cherry tomatoes, chopping the skins that didn’t grate well. Feta cheese on top. Scrumptious!
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