Do you ever see a recipe and decide that you have to cook it right this very minute?!? That’s pretty much how I felt when I saw a recipe for a salad with a parmesan egg on top, except I didn’t want to make the salad – it was all about that fried egg and cheese. It sounded too ridiculously good not to make right away.

Spoiler Alert: It’s ridiculously good.

The concept is frying an egg on top of frico – a parmesan crisp. And a frico is merely taking freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and placing it in a skillet until it melts and crisps. It’s an Italian invention – or, at least this iteration is. I’m sure other cheese-producing countries have something similar.

You can’t use the green can of faux parmesan or anything powdered. It really needs to be the real deal.

To make the frico and egg:

• Very lightly oil a 10″ non-stick skillet.
• Place 1/4 cup freshly-grated parmigiano reggiano per egg in skillet over medium heat. Cook about 2 minutes – until cheese begins to melt.
• Crack egg on top of cheese and cover. Cook about 3 minutes.
• Remove cover, increase heat, and cook until egg is cooked to your preference.

For dinner, I sliced a beefsteak tomato into really thick slices and put them on the plate with olive oil, salt, and pepper. On top of the tomato went sliced of grilled chicken. On top of the chicken went the cheese and egg.

It was one of those meals that just worked on every level and every flavor worked with every flavor.

Juicy tomatoes, spicy chicken, and crispy salty cheese wedded to a fried egg on top.

How could it not be good?!?