Turkish-Style Eggs and Tomatoes
Welcome to Tomato Week, Bon Appétit’s high-summer celebration of our all-time favorite fruit. Fill your totes with heirlooms and pack your pockets with Sun Golds: Each day, we’re sharing a brand new, extra-delicious way to make the most of this fleeting season.
Çılbır, a classic Turkish egg dish, marries garlicky yogurt with poached eggs and a spiced buttery drizzle. Here the dish gets dressed up for summer with the addition of juicy fresh tomatoes (and a slightly simpler egg preparation). By salting the tomatoes in advance and letting them sit in a sieve, you’ll draw out excess liquid that might otherwise run into the yogurt spread on the platter; you’ll add that tomato-y liquid to your smoky butter drizzle to amp up the seasonal flavor.
Throwing a lid on your pan when frying the eggs creates a thin white film over the yolks—a trick that mimics the look of a poached egg (traditional in çılbır) with a fraction of the effort. Feel free to swap in regular sunny-side up eggs, over-easy eggs, or even halved soft-boiled eggs if you prefer.
Recipe information
Total Time
25 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Place 1½ lb. tomatoes (such as cherry, heirloom, and/or on the vine), halved, cut into wedges if large, in a large fine-mesh sieve set over a large bowl; sprinkle ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt over and toss to combine. Let sit at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour.
Step 2
Meanwhile, mix 3 garlic cloves, finely grated, 1½ cups plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, 1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt in a medium bowl. Spread yogurt mixture over a platter.
Step 3
Heat 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil and 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-high until butter is melted and mixture is sizzling, about 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; add 1½ tsp. smoked paprika, ½ tsp. Aleppo-style pepper, and remaining ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt and swirl to combine. Set spiced oil mixture aside.
Step 4
Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Crack 4 large eggs into pan (it’s okay if they touch). Cover (use a baking sheet if needed) and cook until whites are set but yolks are still runny, 2–3 minutes. Transfer eggs to platter, arranging over yogurt.
Step 5
Spoon reserved tomatoes over eggs and yogurt. Pour any tomato liquid in bowl into reserved spiced oil mixture and stir to combine; drizzle over eggs and tomatoes. Top with dill sprigs and mint leaves; sprinkle with flaky sea salt and more Aleppo-style pepper.
