Sujuk scrambled eggs

METHOD

My pitstop snack as a little boy when I ran in from playing with my friends was to wolf down a scrambled-egg sandwich – so quick and very filling.

Then, later, as a teenager I loved merguez sausages – the spicier, the better – stuffed into a sandwich with frites (skinny, and sometimes not so skinny, hand-cut chips) and harissa. This recipe, inspired by my friend Aziz, who made it for me in Beirut, combines the two and uses Middle Eastern sujuk. It’s thinner and longer than merguez, usually made from beef and flavoured with garlic, cumin and sumac. First make a big pan of scrambled eggs, then take it to another level by topping it with chunks of the sausage, just fried with some cherry tomatoes. A little pomegranate molasses and a sprinkling of parsley cuts through the richness. Use chorizo or merguez if you can’t track down sujuk sausages.

Season the eggs with the salt and pepper and stir together. Heat the butter in a large frying pan over a low-to-medium heat. When the butter stops foaming add the eggs. Start stirring the eggs to scramble them, watching them carefully. When they’re half cooked, stir in half the parsley.

Keeping one eye on the eggs, cook the topping. Put a separate, smaller frying pan on a medium heat, add and heat the olive oil. Cook the sujuk chunks until golden and crisp, tossing regularly. Add the cherry tomatoes to the pan and cook until they’ve just blistered and turned golden on the flat side. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over the top and toss everything again.

Check the eggs and stir them again – you want them to be cooked, but still a little soft. Spoon them into a bowl, then spoon the sujuk mixture on top. Drizzle over the juices and scatter over the remaining parsley, then serve.