Sausage and Fennel Breakfast Sandwich
Just over a month ago, I visited my cousin Patrick in Seattle with my mom and sister. He has lived there for almost 15 years, and I can’t believe this was the first time we’d gone to see him! It was an incredible trip filled with lots of laughter, family time, awesome food and drinks, and plenty of coffee.
On of the stops we made was the Starbucks Reserve Roastery, and it was amazing! The best way I can describe it is was like a brewery for coffee. It was a place of beauty, with big tanks of roasting coffee beans and all the caffeine you can get your hands on. While there, I had a nitro cold brewed coffee, and it was close to life changing 😉
In addition to the amazing coffee at the Roastery, they have delicious food as well. I had a sausage, egg and Fontina cheese sandwich on a pretzel bagel, and I knew I needed to recreate it at home.
I added my own spin on the sandwich with a fennel tomato sauce. It takes a while to cook down the tomatoes, so you’ll want to start with the sauce first and let it simmer while you prepare the rest of the sandwich.
To prepare the fennel, start by removing the fronds, then cut the bulb in half from top to bottom. There is a core in the fennel bulb that needs to be removed, and I simply cut it out like a wedge and then diced up the rest of the bulb.
I diced up three tomatoes into roughly the same size as the fennel, and sliced an onion into 1-inch pieces. Then I mixed in a little sugar, some olive oil, salt and pepper, and set it to simmer for 20-30 minutes until it cooked down and thickened.
As the fennel sauce cooked, I started the rest of the sandwich. I wasn’t able to find pretzel bagels, so I went with some tasty pretzel buns instead. I toasted the bun to add flavor and structural integrity.
For the sandwich, I used bulk breakfast sausage, and made sure it was a big enough patty to match the size of the bun.
To compose the sandwich, I cooked the sausage until it was done through and crispy brown on the outside. On top of that is an over-easy egg, the fennel sauce, and some grated Gruyere cheese. Gruyere is a Swiss cheese that cuts nicely through the rich ingredients of this sandwich. To finish it off, I quickly broiled the sandwich to get it nice and melty.
This sandwich transported me right back to Seattle, and the only thing that would have made it better would have been if my family was there with me while I had it!
- 1 bulb fennel cored and diced
- 3 small tomatoes diced
- 1 small onion diced
- t tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 pretzel bun buttered and toasted
- 1/4 pound bulk breakfast sausage formed into round patty
- 1 egg over-easy
- 1/4 cup fennel tomato sauce see recipe below
- 1/4 cup Swiss cheese grated
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce (diced fennel through black pepper), and set over medium-high heat.
- Cook all ingredients together for 20-30 minutes, or until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce is thick. The fennel should be cooked through, but not mushy.
- To compose the sandwich, butter and lightly toast the bun over medium heat, making sure to not burn it.
- Layer the cooked sausage patty on the bottom half of the bun, then the over-easy egg, fennel sauce, and cheese.
- Broil the sandwich (without the top bun on), for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Bacon or ham can be substituted for the sausage, depending on your preference.
**Cardinal Rule** To add depth to the sauce, you can caramelize the onion and fennel first, before adding the tomatoes.