crispy harissa and egg stuffed sandwiches with garlicky yogurt and pickles

an easy breakfast or lunch to make your own way

this super simple recipe was inspired by molly baz’s griddled chorizo and egg stuffed breakfast pitas. i made them a few weeks ago and unfortunately the recipe was not my favorite, for many reasons, some being: the pita bread kept cracking and breaking therefore making it really difficult to stuff, the chorizo and the egg were not even close to cooked by the time the pita was crispy and fried, and i was just generally left wanting so much more from this straightforward, stuff and griddle technique. so i decided to take the idea and make it work better for me and, hopefully, for you, too.

the first thing i wanted to change was the bread. obviously pita works well because it has that built in pocket, but if you can get your hands on a softer, plushier, heartier bread, it’s even better for this. once you make some space with your fingers, there’s plenty of room to house the fillings and it can crisp up on the outside but keep some softness inside.

i live in a neighborhood with a handful of nice turkish bakeries where i can source really great bread for these, but i’ve also tried the lepinja from an albanian bakery and that works too. the most important thing is that they’re big enough to hold the ingredients inside but not too dense, you want a plushy bread that can be squeezed and will bounce back. if you choose to use pita, i would suggest warming them up slightly in the oven before cutting and filling so they don’t break apart on you.

one of the best things about this recipe is that you can really make it with whatever you want. i landed on this particular combination—parsley, scallion, harissa, cheddar cheese and egg—simply because i had little bits of these things around and wanted to use them up, but this is the ideal place for any odds, ends and last dregs of ingredients you might have lying around, like cheese, herbs, pickles (on the side or stuffed in) and various little sauces. here are some ideas for switching it up, always with an egg as the final touch, of course:

• cottage cheese, sesame seeds, chives, chili crisp — add toasted sesame oil and a bit of chili crisp to a half mayo-half yogurt mixture for the dip

• cream cheese, ground cumin, cilantro, pickled jalapenos — dip in hot sauce

• ricotta, calabrian chili, prosciutto, mint — add calabrian chili and maybe a little preserved lemon to yogurt for the dip

• shredded mozzarella, chopped olives, pesto, sliced tomatoes, basil — dip in balsamic vinegar

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crispy harissa and egg stuffed sandwiches with garlicky yogurt and pickles

makes 2 sandwiches

for the sandwiches

2 sprigs parsley

1 scallion

2 small, round squishy bread rolls

2 tablespoons harissa

2 tablespoons grated cheddar cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

for the yogurt

80 grams full fat yogurt

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon pickle juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

for serving

assorted pickles and/or olives

1. preheat oven to 150°C/300°F. finely mince parsley leaves and stems. thinly slice scallions. use a kitchen scissors to carefully cut a cross into the top of the bread, leaving the bottom completely intact. use your fingers to carefully pull up on each triangular piece of bread and make some room in the bread for the fillings by separating the top triangle (keeping the edge intact) from the bottom of the bread.

2. spread the harissa into the bottom of each sandwich and add the scallion, parsley and shredded cheese. crack the egg into a small bowl and use your fingers to lift the corners of the bread and slide the egg into the center of the bread. season with salt and pepper.

3. preheat an ovenproof pan (i’m using a cast iron skillet) over medium heat and add the olive oil. slide the sandwiches in, cut-side up, and cook until the bottom is browned and crisp, about 2-3 minutes. use a spatula to carefully flip the sandwiches (don’t worry if some egg comes out!) and let cook another 2-3 minutes. transfer the whole pan to the oven and let cook for about 8 minutes, or until the egg yolk and whites are cooked through; the best way to check is by slicing a sandwich in half and looking inside. if it’s not cooked to your liking, keep it in the oven until it is.

4. while the sandwiches are baking, grate the garlic clove into the yogurt; use the full clove for a more pronounced flavor, or just half for something lighter. add the pickle juice and salt and stir to combine. plate up with the assorted pickles (i like wild cucumber pickles, pickled peppers, pickled radish and green olives, but you really can’t go wrong here).

5. once the sandwiches are done, slice each into quarters following the lines you cut into the tops with the scissors. serve up with the pickles and yogurt dip and enjoy immediately.