Crispy Bacon, Egg & Pesto Smash

The devilled egg deserves a comeback, but in a form that doesn’t require piping anything into a tiny white cup at a party. This smash is that comeback. It’s got all the things that make devilled eggs so satisfying: creamy yolks, seasoned and mixed into something rich and a little sharp, with the white for texture. Plus crispy bacon, plus pesto, plus cherry tomatoes. It goes on toast. It takes about twenty minutes, most of which is the eggs boiling and the bacon cooking.

There’s a trick in this recipe that I think is worth explaining. You boil the eggs hard, let them cool, then separate the yolks from the whites. The yolks get mashed with cream cheese and basil pesto until they’re smooth and creamy. The whites get roughly chopped. Then you fold everything together: egg white pieces, bacon, cherry tomatoes, spring onion. What you end up with is a smash that has a creamy, flavourful base with chunks of egg white and bits of crispy bacon throughout. It’s more interesting than just chopping everything up together.

This is the kind of dish that works for a weekend brunch just as well as a Tuesday lunch. It’s also excellent meal prep: make a double batch, keep it in the fridge, and you’ve got something properly satisfying ready to pile onto toast or crackers for the next couple of days.

The pesto does a lot of work here. Don’t skip it and don’t use a bad one. The basil, garlic and oil in a good pesto is what rounds out the egg yolk base and gives the whole thing a slightly herby, nutty note that ties everything together.

How to Eat This

Piled generously on thick toasted sourdough is the ideal serve. In a wrap with some rocket for meal prep. On seeded crackers for a snack that keeps you full. Stuffed into a baked potato if you want to make it more substantial. This is also a rare smash that works well at room temperature, which makes it ideal for lunchboxes. Make a double batch and thank yourself later.

Crispy Bacon, Egg & Pesto Smash

Cook time: 20 mins | Serves: 2 | Protein: ~30g per serve

Ingredients

• 4 eggs

• 4 rashers streaky bacon

• 100g cream cheese

• 2 tbsp pesto (basil)

• 100g cherry tomatoes, havled

• 1 spring onion, Thinly sliced

• Cracked black pepper

• 2 slices sourdough or bagel
  

Method

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Lower in the eggs and boil for 10 mins. Transfer to cold water to cool. Peel the eggs.

2. While the eggs cook, fry or oven-bake the bacon until crispy (200C for 10-12 mins works). Chop into small pieces once cooled.

3. Add the eggs to a bowl with the cream cheese, bacon, cherry tomatoes, spring onions and pesto. Mash together until smooth and creamy.

4. Pile onto toasted sourdough. Finish with extra spring onion and a crack of pepper.

Storage

• Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. For crispier bacon in the finished dish, keep it separate and fold through just before serving. Best at room temperature, so pull it out of the fridge 10 minutes before eating.