Eggs in Purgatorio

I'm grateful to andypandy for telling me about Eggs in Purgatory in answer to a community question about varying poached eggs. I checked out the various recipes and then adapted them to my needs and came up with this. Rather than an Italian style tomato sauce, it is more like a Latin salsa. The garlic and onions can either be done first in the skillet, adding a bit more oil to the skillet after that so as not to let the eggs stick,, or, if rushed then can use garlic powder and dried minced onions in the salsa/sauce. (Salsa just means 'sauce' in Spanish) I get a kick out of watching it cook because the edges of the egg look kind of ragged as the tomato sauce bubbles up and the pattern looks like flames,,, haha and thus the name of the dish. I'm not fussy about the exact amounts of ingrediants and many of you 'tweak' recipes anyway,, so please understand that the amounts are approximations,, and it also depends on how many eggs are being poached. The fry pan should be a size so that the number of eggs fits with just a little bit of space between and around the eggs and the sauce has some depth, so don't use a huge pan for two eggs.

• Ready In: 20 mins
• Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

• for two eggs

• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1⁄4 teaspoon  minced garlic or 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1  teaspoon  chopped onions or 1  teaspoon  dried onion flakes
• 1  tomatoes, diced
• 1⁄4 cup tomato puree or 1⁄4 cup  a little less tomato paste or 1⁄4 cup  pasta sauce
• 1  pinch  chopped fresh basil or 1  pinch dried basil
• 1  pinch  chopped fresh parsley or 1  pinch dried parsley or 1  pinch  dried Italian seasoning
• 1  dash  hot sauce, any kind
• 2  eggs, room temp is best
• 2  slices  toast
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Take the eggs out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature. In order to slide them into the tomato mixture easily, crack each egg into a liitle bowl or cup.
2. Dice a fresh tomato. Add the basil, parsley, or Italian seasoning, and the tomato puree, paste or pasta sauce,, stir.
3. While the tomato mixture is sitting, sautee the chopped onion in the oil until transluscent, add the garlic and sautee for a moment. Add the tomato mixture and heat it up.
4. Make a well for each egg, though not to the bottom surface of the pan or the eggs might stick. Slide each egg into a well. Turn the heat to low. I put a lid on the pan, a glass one so I can watch the patterns appear of ragged edges of the eggs and the bubbling of the tomato mixture that gives this dish its name.
5. Let the eggs poach until the whites are opaque, testing the center area of whites for doneness without breaking the yolk. The time it takes depends on how cold the eggs were and how high the heat is,, probably 4 - 8 minutes.
6. Lift the eggs out with a good sized spatula thingy to get the whole thing in one piece, and either place it on toast, which I do, or have the toast on the side.