The Goldmine Breakfast Sandwich | Image: Laura Messersmith — **The Goldmine Breakfast Sandwich** | Image: *Laura Messersmith*

A few weeks ago Mike and I took the train north to Boston to celebrate his fifth business school reunion with a group of our dearest friends. It had been a few years since we were last there with time to wander and revisit some of our favorite places. Number One on Mike’s list: a trip to Mike & Patty’s.

He and several friends had breakfast there in the final days of their last semester and the memory of that tiny shop and delicious sandwiches lived on in legend ever since. I missed that inaugural meal and to be honest, I’ve always been a bit skeptical. The guys might be exaggerating, after all. How good could it really be?

Mike & Patty’s is in Bay Village, a pocket of Boston that manages to be in the middle of Back Bay, the South End, and Chinatown, but still feel like it’s off the beaten path. Cobblestone streets, old-fashioned lanterns, and the hope of discovering amazing food at the end of your journey just heighten the sense of a hidden gem. After one bite of my chosen sandwich - The Goldmine - I was convinced the early morning trek was well worth it.

On the surface The Goldmine is just a bacon, egg, and cheese made fancy, but dip below that run of the mill designation and it becomes clear that this sandwich is so much more. First of all, I assumed that the honey – a strange, but genius addition – was the gold in this mine, but actually it’s the fried egg (or egg over easy as you prefer) whose yolk permeates all the corners of this delicious sandwich.

The Goldmine inspires tales of food treasures, hunched-over eating, and plate mopping. Simple pleasures and well worth your efforts to make at home.

The Goldmine (serves: 4)

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
2/3 cup whole milk ricotta, bought or homemade
2 ounces (4 slices) prosciutto
4 tablespoons golden honey
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 loaf challah, brioche, or sourdough bread

Instructions:
Pre-heat the large sauté pan over medium heat and crisp the slices of prosciutto, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the medium sauté pan over medium-low heat spread a thin layer of butter over each slice of bread. Toast the bread in the medium pan until golden brown, about 4 minutes per side, in batches.

Remove the crisped prosciutto from the larger pan and set aside. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter to the warm pan and melt. Once the bread is toasted, spread half of the pieces with 1-2 tablespoons of the whole milk ricotta on one side. Add a slice of crisped prosciutto, and drizzle with 2-3 teaspoons of honey. Reserve the sandwich tops until the eggs are cooked.

Crack the eggs one at a time into a small liquid measuring cup or bowl taking care not to break the yolk. Gently pour each egg into the large sauté pan allowing the white to just begin setting before adding the next egg. Once all the eggs are in the pan, cover with a lid (preferably glass, so you can monitor the situation) and cook over medium heat for another 2-3 minutes watching for an opaque white, but a soft, runny yolk.

Top each sandwich with a fried egg, sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste. Add the second piece of bread and serve immediately!

Need more advice on frying an egg? The Kitchn and Food Network have step by step instructions to get just the cook you're looking for.

Adapted from Mike and Patty’s The Goldmine breakfast sandwich.

Small Kitchen Friendly?
Yes, indeed! I used one large non-stick sauté pan with a cover, one medium non-stick sauté pan, a medium cutting board, bread knife, a liquid measuring cup, rubber spatula, dinner fork, butter knife, and teaspoon. That’s all!

The Verdict:
I’m obsessed with The Goldmine. Each component is relatively mild on it’s own, but together they balance each other beautifully. Creamy ricotta, crispy prosciutto, sweet sticky honey all tucked under a blanket of egg-y goodness. Sigh. It's also a great choose-your-own-adventure dish. Like lots of prosciutto? Add an extra slice. Want it a little gooier? Let the honey drizzle a little longer over the ricotta. My last piece of advice: please make this on a lazy weekend morning when a second cup of coffee and a nap are all that’s on the docket. You’ll thank me.