Soft-Boiled Eggs With Anchovy Toast

By Sam Sifton

Soft-Boiled Eggs With Anchovy Toast
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews. Prop Stylist: Paige Hicks.
Rating
4(965)
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This is a no-recipe recipe, a recipe without an ingredients list or steps. It invites you to improvise in the kitchen.

If you’re up for a delicious, slightly sporty breakfast, you might consider making some anchovy butter tonight. Take a stick of unsalted butter, and let it soften on the counter while you assemble the other ingredients: a tin of anchovies, some garlic cloves, a shake or two of smoked or regular paprika, a wee splash of lemon juice and maybe, but probably not, some salt. Rinse and mince the little fish, mince the garlic, and fork everything together into the butter to taste.

Then, come morning, you can slather toast with the result and serve it with soft scrambled eggs or, better yet, soft-boiled eggs, a breakfast I once had in London at a hotel and restaurant the chef Fergus Henderson was running in Leicester Square. Make sure you spread the butter “wall to wall.” That is a vernacular phrase of the chef Gabrielle Hamilton. It means to cover the entire surface of the bread from edge to edge — an important step in buttering, one that is too often shirked.

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Comments

JennyN

How is this delicious NOT a recipe (just in paragraph format)? Ingredients: 1 stick of butter 1 tin of anchovies Etc. Method: 1. Let the butter soften on the counter while you assemble the other ingredients: a tin of anchovies, some garlic cloves, a shake or two of smoked or regular paprika, a wee splash of lemon juice, and... 2. Rinse and mince the little fish, mince the garlic, and fork everything together into the butter to taste. 3. Then slather toast with the result and serve it with...

Jennifer

How long can you store the anchovy butter?

NJfoodie

This rocks: made it this morning. But, anchovy butter needs nothing more than finely-minced anchovies (I use oil-packed, and I didn't rinse them) and butter. Lemon juice, garlic, etc are distractions. You could gussy this up with capers, etc, but it's fine without garnishes. Maybe a little black pepper ...

Lost In A Space

1) take a few spoonfuls from your butter crock and spread it onto a shallow bowl 2) mix some anchovy paste into the butter. 3) spread the new concoction onto some slices of sourdough bread and toast them in the oven, or alternatively in a buttered cast iron pan, which is how I prepare it. 4) poach a few eggs. (You know how to do this part, right?) Place poached eggs onto buttered and toasted slices of bread. ENJOY!

yunsong

I LOVE the use of the word, "Sporty!"

Heidi

I made this with brown butter and threw the anchovies into the butter as it was browning. Stir well with a fork and the anchovies melt into the butter. Once it’s cooled and solidified slightly, mix in garlic, lemon and took someone’s suggestion to add mustard. Topped with a soft boiled egg, pepper and red pepper flakes. This was delicious, easy, will make again. Looking forward to trying other variations. I forgot the smoked paprika but will use next time.

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