While most of our dinners are served family style in our house, every few weeks my husband and I have a date night in. That means the kids are all in bed either reading or sleeping by 7:30 or 8 and we get to have dinner as just the two of us. It’s a win/win for everyone! The kids think that it’s really fun to tease us about date night and they like the independence of knowing that it is up to them to actually turn off the reading lights and go to bed. There is only one rule……stay in bed!
A lot of times they ask us what we are going to eat for dinner and they were beyond excited this weekend when we told them that we were sharing one of our favorite date night dinners with them! Fried Egg Spaghetti is a dish that I first made about 5-6 years ago and it’s stuck has stuck around that long because it’s so simple, so comforting, and sooooo delicious. Another added bonus is that I almost always have the ingredients on hand. It’s hard to imagine this dish is without trying it first hand, so go ahead and make it! My boys all declared this to now be in their top 1-2 favorite dishes of all time and were ready for more the next night. We were frying up additional eggs left and right! (with 4 boys, we can go through a carton of eggs in seconds!)
Important: The eggs play a major role in this dish. While pasta in a garlic sauce is always good, the key to this dish is the runny egg yolk. Once you break the yolks, they spill over the pasta take the dish to a whole new level of richness. Also note that you can use gluten-free breadcrumbs and pasta for this dish if desired
Fried Egg Spaghetti
1 lb spaghetti
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
4 cloves garlic, fresh minced or grated on a zester (not the jarred kind….use fresh please!)
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 cup pasta water (reserved from cooking the pasta)
1/2 cup parsley, fresh chopped
1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs (the kind made for stuffing in the bakery section of your local grocery store)
8-12 eggs for frying
Directions:
Cook the pasta according to package directions in well-salted water until al dente, and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water right before you strain it.
In a large pan over medium heat, melt the butter and olive oil. Add the garlic, chili flakes, salt, and pepper and cook until the garlic starts to foam. Whisk in the reserved pasta water and continue stirring until sauce appears to be “creamy” and thicken slightly. Add pasta and the freshly chopped parsley. Use a pair of tongs to toss the pasta until it is well coated with the garlic sauce. Remove the pan from the heat and divide the pasta among serving plates. Top each plate with 1/8 cup breadcrumbs that you have further crushed with your hands.
Prepare fried eggs so that they still have a runny yolk. Place 2 eggs over each serving of pasta.
Serves 4-6
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