Scallion Breakfast Sandwich with Pancetta

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Today’s Scallion Breakfast Sandwich is quite literally a handful. Well, a mouthful actually. If you’re looking for a brunch you can eat daintily, find yourself a fruit bowl because this sandwich ain’t it. This beast features a creamy scallion studded egg patty perched on top of sautéed kohlrabi greens and crisp pancetta. The egg is topped with gooey havarti and a creamy radish kohlrabi slaw. And yes, I did rather precariously perch everything on a multigrain English muffin. And no, I’m not the least bit sorry. 

There are few things I appreciate more than a good breakfast sandwich or really any egg-related sandwich. I lived on fried egg sandwiches during my teenage years. In fact, it was the first food item I obsessed over and wanted to perfect. I’ve never posted a fried egg sandwich on this blog, which I now realize is a glaring oversight. But that’s a problem to fix another day. Today, we’re talking about breakfast sandwiches, specifically this scallion breakfast sandwich. 

There are a lot of ways to breakfast sandwich. You can have a sandwich with scrambled eggs, fried eggs, over-easy eggs, Egg-Mcmuffin-style eggs, and so on and so forth. And then when you get to the bread component of your sandwich there is even more variety. You could use the classic kaiser bun or low-key pain au lait number. You could double down on the breakfast of it all and select a bagel. Or you could throw caution to the wind and select a biscuit or a croissant and be completely useless for the rest of the day. There are a lot of breakfast sandwiches out there and the field isn’t getting any smaller.

So why, when there is a vast array of breakfast sandwiches to choose from, should you choose this Scallion Breakfast Sandwich? Well, I feel the best way to argue this is by taking you through each component of the sandwich. I will illustrate its merits and its place in the larger sandwich. If it sounds silly and far too academic of an approach for something as inconsequential as a breakfast sandwich, I’m surprised you made it this far into this post. I’m surprised you made it to this website at all. And I can tell you it’s not about to get any less silly. Fair warning.

Let’s start with the English muffin. When you ask people their opinions on breakfast sandwiches, you’re likely to get a lot of feelings about the bread. I simply cannot tolerate a croissant, biscuit, or brioche in this context. They are far too rich and buttery and they’re liable to put me into a coma. I like an English muffin and a kaiser bun. I like them because they taste good but they don’t impose too much of their own flavor. The egg and toppings are not overwhelmed by their presence flavor-wise. But as much as I love a good kaiser bun, they can take up too much real estate. So here I went with the lower profile English muffin, which I know is a bold move because have you seen how the size of this sandwich?  

Next, let’s talk about the egg. Now, this is an area with a lot of opinions as well. For today’s Scallion Breakfast Sandwich, I opted for an egg patty. I made these particular egg patties every day multiple times a day when I worked at a cafe. It’s taken me four years to be able to make them again. But now that I’m back to loving them, I wonder how I didn’t miss them much sooner. These patties are essentially eggs, salt, cream, and scallions whisked together and baked in an 8×8 pan. The pan bakes in a water bath, which admittedly can be a pain. But they also refrigerate and reheat really well. So if you’re a person who lives for meal prep, this is breakfast sandwich egg for you.

Next, let’s get into the cheese. I went with a herbed havarti but I have done a sharp cheddar in the past and it did not suck. I like the havarti for its creaminess and how readily it melts. But it is a fairly mellow cheese, so if you want something with more of a punch it might not be the cheese for you. I think gouda would work very well here as well. Or you could do what my partner loves to do and whisk some feta into the egg patties themselves. And if you’re into a solid cheese pull, you can’t do better than mozzarella.

Okay, we’ve arrived at the toppings portion of the discussion. Toppings on a breakfast sandwich aren’t nearly as necessary as a quality bun or egg. If you prefer a breakfast sandwich with nothing more than egg and cheese, that is completely understandable. There is something to be said for that level of simplicity. Cheese pizza has fans for a reason. But I couldn’t leave it at egg and cheese. So I added pancetta, sauteed kohlrabi greens, and a creamy slightly tart kohlrabi radish slaw.

To put these toppings together, fry the pancetta until crispy in a small skillet. Then, using the fat from the pancetta, fry the kohlrabi greens until wilted. Finish with a splash of cider vinegar and set the greens aside. Take the kohlrabi bulbs and shave them nice and thin on a mandoline. Do the same with watermelon radish and dress the lot with a creamy dressing comprised of mayo, vinegar, honey, garlic, and celery seed. These toppings obviously take more time than a simple egg and cheese sandwich but they are oh-so worth it.

And that’s everything you need to know about this Scallion Breakfast Sandwich and then some. This tasty hand-held brunch delivers a fanciful contrast of flavors and textures even if it is a bit messy.

Enjoy!