Ultimate Ham and Egg Sandwich

There's just something about lazy Sundays. I love a day where you can do everything that you love and not have to worry about rushing around checking off your to-do list. Today is one of those days ( which is why I'm posting!).

The other thing that I love about Sundays is brunch. It really is the perfect lazy day meal because it just feels indulgent to eat a huge amount of breakfast food smack in the middle of the day. And being that breakfast food is my favorite, I love the fact that I can be lazy and savor it at whatever time I please.

I think I also love brunch because it reminds me of the early days of my relationship with Gian Luca, when we were still getting to know each other and trying to interpret whether or not we were falling in love. In those days I was working as a waitress in New Jersey and I never had a Friday or Saturday night off. So Gian Luca and I would do Sunday brunches in Philadelphia. I loved waking up early ( even when I worked late the night before), getting ready and driving over the Ben Franklin Bridge listening to Frank Sinatra on the radio. We'd meet for church at St. Patrick's near Rittenhouse Square ( where we eventually got married) and then get brunch and spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around the city. Everything was new to me then, even the city that I had grown up in, because I was seeing things with Gian Luca.

And even now, we love brunch on Sundays. Sometimes we go out and sometimes, like today, we get creative and eat at home.


There's one rule about brunch for us: it must be easy. So when we are cooking brunch, it usually consists of eggs, toast, and maybe a pancake or two. But today we were inspired by the movie Spanglish. In it, Adam Sandler's character makes himself an egg sandwich on crusty ciabatta bread that made us both want to reach through the TV screen and take a giant bite. Instead, we re-created it ourselves, deeming it the ultimate ham and egg sandwich. Enjoy.

Ultimate Ham and Egg Sandwich

2 Ciabatta rolls ( or whatever bread you'd like, today we used multi-grain buns)
4 slices of prosciutto
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 cup baby spinach leaves
2 thick tomato slices
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Place bread on a baking sheet and toast until golden ( flipping once to ensure that both sides are toasted). Place one piece of prosciutto on each piece of bread. Bake for 5 minutes.
3. In a small saucepan, heat 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1 clove of garlic. When the garlic begins to brown, add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste. Allow the spinach to wilt and remove from heat. Set aside.
4. In a medium skillet, fry eggs over-easy style, so that the centers are still runny.
5. Assemble the sandwiches with the prosciutto, egg, tomatoes and spinach. Drizzle remaining olive oil over the sandwich.