Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Sausage Recipe
Baked eggs in tomato sauce with sausage are a rustic Polish take on shakshuka, where the flavour base is smoked sausage, onion and marjoram. A thick, garlicky tomato sauce surrounds eggs with soft, slightly runny yolks, perfect for scooping up with bread. The dish is made in a single pan and is a great way to use up leftover cold cuts and bread.
This dish borrows the idea of shakshuka but replaces cumin and coriander with typically Polish flavours: smoked sausage, marjoram and sweet paprika. As a result, it feels more like a sausage-and-tomato stew with eggs than a café-style breakfast. It fits naturally into the Polish tradition of hearty pan dishes that use up leftover cold cuts and bread, often served for late breakfasts or simple suppers.
This is a more rustic, pan-based version of shakshuka in which tomatoes are combined with smoked sausage and marjoram instead of cumin or coriander. It tastes like a cross between scrambled eggs and leczo and is perfect for using up leftover cold cuts. Clear cues about sauce thickness and egg doneness make it easy to achieve consistent results.
Why this version works
- A thick sauce before adding the eggs guarantees even setting of the whites while keeping the yolks runny.
- Frying the sausage before adding the tomatoes brings out its smoky aroma and intensifies the flavour of the sauce.
- Covering the pan lets the whites set gently in the steam without drying out the yolks.
Chef's tips
The most common mistake is adding the eggs to a sauce that is still thin – the whites then run off to the sides and set in a thin, rubbery layer. Cook the tomatoes until they are clearly thick and bubbling across the entire surface and start to pull away from the sides. If you’re worried about overcooking the eggs, after 5 minutes turn off the heat and leave the pan covered for 2 minutes – the yolks will stay creamy.
How to serve
Place the pan in the middle of the table with a bowl of sliced bread, rolls or toast for scooping up the sauce and yolks. Serve alongside a simple salad of pickled cucumber or tomato with onion to refresh the dish. In the morning it goes well with black tea, and in the evening with a light beer or homemade fruit compote.
Watch out for
- If the sauce is too thin, the whites will spread out and set in a thin, rubbery layer.
- Don’t cook the eggs over high heat – the sauce can burn on the bottom before the whites set.
- Don’t salt heavily at the start; the sausage itself releases quite a lot of salty flavour.
Substitutions
- You can replace country-style sausage with good Silesian sausage or kabanos; in that case, salt the sauce more cautiously.
- You can swap canned tomatoes for passata, shortening the sauce cooking time by a few minutes.
- You can replace parsley with chives or fresh coriander for a more herb-forward accent.
Ingredients
- eggs - 4 pieces
- country-style or Silesian sausage - 120 g
- onion - 1 piece
- garlic - 1 clove
- chopped tomatoes from a can - 400 g
- tomato paste - 1 tablespoon
- oil vegetable - 1 tablespoon
- dried marjoram - 1 teaspoon
- paprika sweet, ground - 1 teaspoon
- paprika hot, ground - 0.25 teaspoons
- salt
- pepper black, ground
- parsley - 2 tablespoons
Preparation
- Peel the onion and cut into a small dice. Peel the garlic and chop finely. Cut the sausage into half-slices, removing the tough casing if it is thick or cracks when cutting.
- Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and fry for 3–4 minutes until well browned and a layer of rendered fat and a strong smoky aroma develop on the bottom of the pan.
- Add the onion to the sausage and fry for 3–4 minutes, stirring. The onion should soften and lightly brown at the edges without dark, burnt bits.
- Add the garlic and fry for about 30 seconds until very fragrant. Add the sweet paprika, hot paprika and marjoram, quickly stirring so they combine with the fat but don’t darken – take the pan off the heat if they start to brown.
- Pour in the canned tomatoes and add the tomato paste. Stir, season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for 8–10 minutes over medium heat until the sauce noticeably thickens, bubbles across the entire surface and starts to pull slightly away from the sides of the pan.
- Taste the sauce; if it’s too acidic, add a pinch of sugar. The right consistency is when, after dragging a spoon through, a trail remains on the bottom for 1–2 seconds and the sauce doesn’t look watery.
- In the thick sauce, use a spoon to make 4 small wells, slightly exposing the bottom of the pan. Gently crack one egg into each, guiding the whites into the wells so they don’t spread in a thin layer over the whole pan.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and cook for 5–7 minutes. The whites should turn completely opaque, including around the yolk, while the yolks remain slightly jelly-like and gently wobble when you move the pan.
- When the whites are set and the tops of the yolks are just slightly matte, remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately, preferably straight from the pan, with bread for dipping.
- If you prefer firmer yolks, after turning off the heat leave the pan covered for another 2–3 minutes. The yolks will finish cooking in the residual heat and the sauce won’t have time to burn on the bottom.
Storage
Best eaten fresh, when the yolks are runny and creamy. After chilling, the eggs set completely and the sauce thickens; reheat over low heat with 1–2 tablespoons of water or tomatoes until it becomes slightly fluid again.
I most often make this dish on Friday evenings when I’m left with a few stale slices of bread and a piece of sausage. I put the pan in the middle of the table and everyone eats their share straight with a spoon, which also saves me on washing up.
