Breakfast Flatbreads with Sausage, Morels & Spring Onions
Serves 4
Ingredients
55g unsalted butter
salt
4 store-bought garlic naan flatbreads, about 130g each
455g Italian sausage, casings removed
4 tsp rapeseed oil
2 spring onions
130g morel mushrooms
230g fresh mozzarella
60g crumbled goat’s cheese
4 large eggs
watercress (optional), for serving
Method
Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. In a large pan over medium heat, melt 1 tbsp of the butter and sprinkle with ¼ tsp of salt. When the butter is melted, place 1 naan in the pan, right-side down, and cook until it is light golden brown and crisped, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the toasted naan to a baking sheet (you will use two sheets here) and set aside. Repeat with the remaining 3 flatbreads.
Wipe out the pan and cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking it into large crumbles, and then leave them alone to brown nicely on one side, about 1½ minutes. Turn the crumbles over and cook until browned on the other side and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to the naans, dividing it evenly among them.
Wipe out the pan one more time. Heat 2 tsp of the oil over medium heat, and add the spring onions (left whole) and the morels. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and the onions have wilted a bit, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and divide the onions and morels evenly among the flatbreads. If you like, you can chop the onions at this point, but I like to add them to the flatbreads whole. Tear the mozzarella into large pieces and top each flatbread with a quarter of the cheese. Scatter a quarter of the goat’s cheese crumbles over each flatbread and sprinkle with a little salt.
Bake the flatbreads, one baking sheet at a time, for 4 minutes. Grill until the mozzarella is melted and just beginning to brown and bubble, 2-3 minutes.
Meanwhile, fry the eggs, if using. Add the remaining 2 tsp of oil to a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook to your preferred doneness level, flipping once halfway through. Top each flatbread with a fried egg and some watercress, if using. Serve immediately.
Extracted from Smoke Roots Mountain Harvest: Recipes and Stories Inspired by My Appalachian Home by Lauren Angelucci McDuffie (Chronicle Books, approx €26). Photographs by Lauren Angelucci McDuffie.