Scrambled Eggs with Gruyère, Fried Pita with Olive Tapenade & Tomato Salad

The three elements that made this breakfast come together the way that it did were leftover pita (from the night I made chicken and hummus), leftover olive tapenade (from the night I made 4-hour lamb; the recipe’s in that post), and leftover Gruyere (from that cauliflower gratin). The breakthrough moment was when I decided to fry the pita. I learned how to do this when Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook gave me their recipe for a beet salad at their restaurant Animal; instead of croutons, they fry pita. Turns out that’s a really wonderful thing to know how to do.

It’s as simple as this. Cut a few pitas into quarters:

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Heat about an inch of vegetable oil in a large skillet on high heat. After a few minutes, stick the end of a wooden spoon into the oil and if bubbles immediately form around it, you’re ready to fry (thanks, Arthur Schwartz, for that trick). Drop in some pita.

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After a bit, flip them upside down. They’ll be dark brown.

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Remove to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle immediately with salt.

Now these things are utterly delicious so you’ll want to snack on them. I enjoyed them hot out of the fryer though as they cooled, they became a bit chewy on the inside because I didn’t separate the pita into halves. So next time I do this, I think I’ll cut the pockets open before cutting into quarters so you’re just frying one single pita piece at a time.

To finish this breakfast, make a little salad of cherry tomatoes (sliced in half), chopped red onion, olive oil, red wine vinegar and lots of chopped parsley. Then fry half a sliced onion in a tablespoon of butter until it’s brown, add 3 eggs if it’s for one; if it’s for two, add 6 eggs and salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to high and as the eggs begin to set, stir a few times to form large curds then take immediately off the heat (it’ll finish cooking in the residual heat); add a bunch of Grated Gruyère. To plate, spoon some eggs on to the plate, then some salad, then a few fried pita wedges topped with olive tapenade.

Look at that, you made a good breakfast. NOW EAT IT.

7 thoughts on “Scrambled Eggs with Gruyère, Fried Pita with Olive Tapenade & Tomato Salad”

  1. Little House & Garden

    Hey there Adam! I’ve done something similar to pita bread in the past. My technique is to rub olive oil on both sides, sprinkle with garlic salt (or whatever salty seasoning I have around), then pop it into a toaster oven until browned and crispy.

    1. Love this breakfast idea of Adam’s, all together, but this toaster oven idea is MUCH healthier than frying in a vat of processed oil and easier too. Also, probably literally about 10,000 calories lighter : )

  2. I tried this recipe this morning. What a fantastic treat!! The flavors complemented each other nicely. I love having new ideas for breakfast. Thank you Adam

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