I hate to write another food blog post but you’ve gotta check this out. I got this breakfast at a restaurant in San Diego last fall break and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. It’s like this restaurant took a bunch of leftovers from the night before (meat loaf, potatoes, spinach, pesto) and mashed it all together into the best breakfast ever. I know it sounds crazy but bear with me - I recreated it at home when corona hit and I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. This recipe is what I did, but I think you could make it just as good if you added things like bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and basically anything else you wanted. 

Supplies

• Baking sheet
• Medium bowl
• Frying pan & lid
• Large pot
• Knife
• Cutting board
• Blender

Pesto Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 cups basil leaves, no stems
• 1/2 cup Parmesan 
• 2 tsp salt
• olive oil

Meatloaf Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup panko (1/2 panko mixture goes in meatloaf, 1/2 goes on top)
  • Panko is also commonly called breadcrumbs.
• 1 cup mozzarella (goes in panko mixture)
• 20 oz ground beef
• 2 tbsp Tuscan spice (1/2 in meat mixture 1/2 in marinara)
• a few spoonfuls of marinara

Tuscan Spice Ingredients (mix):

• 4 Parts Basil (dried flakes)
• 2 Parts Rosemary (dried flakes)
• 2 Parts Oregano (dried flakes)
• 2 Parts Garlic Powder
• 1 Part "low-heat" cayenne pepper
• 1 Part Fennel (ground)

Other hash ingredients:

• 4 russet potatoes, cubed
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch spinach leaves
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs per person
• Optional: extra parmesan and mozzarella for garnish

Steps:

1. Meatloaf: Combine panko, mozzarella, and 1 tbsp Tuscan spice in a medium bowl. Remove half of the mixture. Add in ground beef, mix to combine. Form ground beef mixture into 2 loaves. Mix marinara sauce with remaining Tuscan spice. Spoon marinara mix onto the meatloaves, then top with remaining panko mixture. Bake at 425° for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. 
2. Potatoes: Cook cubed potatoes (we kept the skins on) at 425° on a baking sheet with olive oil, salt, and pepper for 15 mins, toss, 10 mins, toss, 7 minutes, then they’re finished.
3. Pesto: Mix all ingredients but olive oil in a blender. Blend while adding a small drizzle of olive oil at a time. You may have to use a fork or spatula to stop the blender from getting clogged. 
4. Cook 2 cloves of garlic, minced, with the diced red onion in a large pot over medium high heat in olive oil
5. Add meatloaf, chopped into cubes
6. Add 1 bunch of spinach leaves, no stems
7. Add 1 tbsp butter
8. Add potatoes 
9. Cook tossing, add several spoonfuls of pesto to taste. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Cook 2 eggs per person over medium. 
11. Dish up your pesto hash! I like to put my eggs on top so I can have bites with egg and the hash together. This recipe also goes great with sourdough toast. Enjoy!

A tip on cooking your eggs:

I just learned how to make eggs that have lots of runny yolk while the whites cook through but stay soft and delicate. I don’t like it when the white part of the egg is runny, it freaks me out. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a medium nonstick pan. Once the butter has melted, crack two eggs into the pan and try not to break the yolks. Add like 2 tbsp of water into the pan (I know it sounds weird) and cover your pan with a lid (or aluminum foil). Check the eggs every minute or so to see how they’re cooking. If you have to remove the lid to check the eggs, you might have to add more water. Once a white film covers the yolks, they’re done. The eggs won’t be crispy at all - the whites will be totally cooked through but the yolks will be mostly runny. That’s because the water you added steam the eggs so you don’t have to flip them.