Scrambled eggs with basil, bacon and cheese

With all the extra basil lying around after the caprese sandwich I figured a good way to use some would be to jazz up a really basic, everyday dish: scrambled eggs.  Of all the egg dishes you can make for breakfast scrambled eggs are the easiest and it’s almost to go wrong with them. Fried eggs can get rubbery and the yolk overcooked or undercooked; omelettes can get dense and thick, but scrambled eggs taste great even if you overcook them and it’s cloe to impossible to under scramble an egg.

Personally, I prefer my scrambled eggs to be creamy, cheesy and spreadable, but a lot of people like their eggs cooked hard: I usually don’t allow such people to scramble my eggs. While I’ve kept this recipe pretty simple and plain, you could quite easily add in a tbsp of chopped parsley, tomatoes, mushrooms or spring onions; or a quarter tsp of finely minced green/ red chilli. I’d avoid using any Indian spices; it’ll kill the taste of the basil.

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs, broken into a bowl
1 slice bacon, chopped
2-3 small basil leaves, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp grated cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp thick cream (optional)

METHOD
Beat the eggs together vigorously till mixed together. Season with salt and pepper and beat to incorporate the flavouring.
Fry the chopped bacon till brown and crisp. Remove from heat.
Stir the grated cheese (and cream, if using) into the beaten eggs and mix well.
Pour the eggs into the pan and return to medium-heat.
Keep stirring the mixture, making sure that it doesn’t set into big pieces.
After about 4 minutes and before the mixture has cooked completely, stir in the basil and turn off the heat. (The scrambled eggs will continue cooking in their own heat and will become hard and rubbery if you don’t remove it while it’s still creamy.)
Serve with bread or on toast.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Makes enough to top 4 slices of toast.