Give Scrambled Eggs An Italian Twist With One Tangy Ingredient

Despite being a workhorse of American breakfasts, scrambled eggs remain a strangely undervalued meal. While lots of people love a simple side of scrambled eggs with their bacon or sausage, they don't really get dressed up the same way other egg preparations like omelets or quiches do. Well, scrambled eggs are just as versatile as any other egg dish — with a few additions, they can be the star of any meal without accompaniment. And if you want to take a first step towards some unique scrambled egg preparations, sun-dried tomatoes are a great partner to work with.

Long maligned as a trendy, overused ingredient of the '90s, sun-dried tomatoes are surprisingly complex flavor bombs of sweetness, tang, and even some umami. The best complements to soft and fluffy scrambled eggs often bring brightness, acid, and salt, and sun-dried tomatoes have all of that in one package. The drying process gives them an intense punch, so you don't need a lot of them to boost scrambled eggs. Just a spoonful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes will be enough to bring balance and depth to the dish. The sweetness can be a little overpowering if you add too many, so always start with a light touch. And best of all, sun-dried tomatoes also pair wonderfully with lots of other scrambled egg additions that you love.

One thing that always works with scrambled eggs is cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes are particularly fond of salty Mediterranean cheeses. A classic pairing with sun-dried tomatoes is feta, and if you use oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, you can even mix the crumbled cheese in some of the oil before using it to top your eggs. Parmesan is also an excellent addition to eggs, bringing its own nutty, aged, savory complexity that fills in the few blanks that sun-dried tomatoes leave. If you want something a little lighter and fresher, try dotting your eggs and tomatoes with some crumbles of mild goat cheese, which will make the whole dish extra rich and creamy.

Outside of cheese, any of the bright herbs you already want to add to your eggs are only going to taste better with sun-dried tomatoes. Chives, tarragon, and parsley will all lighten up the savory combo of eggs and tomatoes. Bitter greens like spinach are complemented by the balancing sweetness they bring, and you can even combine those two ingredients with some earthy sauteed mushrooms. You can even add them to a Denver-omelet-inspired mix of onions, green pepper, and cubed ham. And if you want to get really fancy and don't mind a little extra work, turn those tomatoes into sun-dried tomato pesto and spread it on some crusty bread topped with scrambled eggs. No wonder these things used to be so popular.