Sweet Potato and Egg Skillet -- What You Make When the Platter Is Empty

Easter. I made sixty deviled eggs in two batches Saturday afternoon, which took from 1 PM to 5 PM and which required the purchase of a specialty piping bag because the spoon method was not producing uniform eggs and I could not walk into my mother's kitchen with uneven eggs without being commented on. The piping bag produced uniform eggs. The eggs were finished at 5:15. They were chilled. They were packed. They were transported Sunday morning on a sheet pan in the back of the Subaru with Nora looking at them from her car seat and announcing "egg" with what sounded like pride of ownership.

The three-decker was already full when we arrived. My mother had the lamb in the oven. My father had the ham on the stove. Patrick and Colleen were there, Colleen on the couch with the baby in her arms, the baby asleep. My nephew Sean Patrick III, who is nine days old, who has my father's mouth and his own opinions already. Maureen is calling him "the baby." Patrick is calling him "S.P." Colleen has not yet settled on what she will call him. He does not yet answer to anything because he is nine days old.

Liam's first Easter egg hunt. The yard behind the three-decker is small, and the hiding places are limited, and there are three kids in the hunt — Liam, Aidan (who is three), and a family friend's daughter who is four. My mother and Meghan and I hid the eggs in advance, strategically, to ensure each child found a good number. Liam took to the hunt with focus. He collected twelve eggs in four minutes. He offered a blue egg to Aidan because Aidan's basket had fewer. He shared without being prompted. I stood on the back step and watched and thought about the child he was becoming. Sean saw me watching. He said "yeah." That was the whole conversation. That was sufficient.

S.P.'s baptism is scheduled for two weeks from now. Father Donnelly will do it. Maureen has already announced the after-party will be at her house. Colleen has accepted. Colleen is fine with anything that does not require her to cook or clean, which she is entitled to, and which the family agrees with.

The deviled eggs were eaten. All sixty. Not every single one was eaten at dinner — my father ate two at 10 AM before the meal because he has a long-standing belief that deviled eggs exist for his breakfast — but by the end of the evening the platter was empty. My brother Patrick ate eleven, which was his self-reported count. Eleven deviled eggs. He is also a firefighter. He is also related to us. This explains a lot.

I came home and sat on my own couch at 9 PM in my own living room of my own house with a cup of tea and watched Nora sleep on my lap and thought about the thing the holidays do in family — the way they anchor you, the way they repeat, the way you measure time against them. Easter last year was in the apartment. Easter the year before was under strict pandemic restriction. Easter this year was in the three-decker, with all of us, with a new baby, in a new house to come home to. The Easters are stacking. The Easters are how I am keeping track.

I made sixty deviled eggs, and I regret nothing, but I also think I have earned the right to keep it simple with eggs for a little while. What I keep coming back to is this Sweet Potato and Egg Skillet — it’s the kind of recipe that still centers the egg, the way Easter does, but asks almost nothing of you: one pan, thirty-five minutes, no piping bag required. After a Sunday that involved a three-decker full of people and a platter that needed to be emptied and a nephew who is nine days old and already has opinions, simple feels exactly right.

Sweet Potato and Egg Skillet

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 3 cups)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley or chives, chopped
• Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

1. Cook the sweet potatoes. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced sweet potatoes in a single layer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes until they are tender and beginning to caramelize at the edges.
2. Add the aromatics. Add the onion and bell pepper to the skillet. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until softened. Add the garlic, smoked paprika, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Stir to coat everything evenly and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Create wells for the eggs. Using the back of a spoon, press 4 shallow wells into the sweet potato mixture, spacing them evenly around the skillet.
4. Add the eggs. Crack one egg carefully into each well. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover the skillet with a lid or a sheet of foil.
5. Cook to your liking. Cook covered for 5 to 7 minutes, until the egg whites are fully set. For runny yolks, pull the skillet at 5 minutes; for set yolks, go the full 7. Check by gently nudging the white near the yolk — it should not jiggle.
6. Garnish and serve. Remove the lid, scatter fresh parsley or chives over the top, and add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you like heat. Serve directly from the skillet with crusty bread or toast alongside.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 245 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 27g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 350mg