Crack a smile: Bill Granger cooks with eggs

Any eggs left over from Pancake Day? Then you have the key to a host of exciting recipes from around the world that will make you happy at any time of day.

One of my favourite cookbooks has to be An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David, if just for the title. If you have a box of eggs in the kitchen then you've got a meal, and every culture has at least one simple yet delicious recipe that incorporates eggs and can be rustled up in next to no time for a hearty breakfast or brunch at the weekend – or even for a tasty supper when you haven't had time to do a proper food shop. Not to mention the fact that even die-hard carnivores all need a break from time to time, and an egg dish that packs a punch easily replaces something meatier.

Bill's restaurant, Granger & Co, is at 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11, tel: 020 7229 9111, grangerandco.com

Fried eggs with chilli breadcrumbs and radicchio

Based on a dish served at Zen Café in San Francisco, this is my middle daughter Ines's favourite breakfast – in fact, at nine years old, she can pull this one together herself now.

Serves 2

4 slices ciabatta or sourdough bread
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Pinch of dried red chilli flakes
4 medium eggs
1 small head of radicchio or treviso, core removed, rinsed and torn into pieces
2 tbsp red-wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

First tear the bread into small pieces. Depending on the size of your frying pan, you might need to cook in two batches. Heat the pan over a medium-high heat until hot, then add the olive oil, bread, salt and chilli flakes. Stir until the bread is lightly toasted.

Reduce the heat to medium and break the eggs into the pan. Cook them to your liking – I prefer mine with a runny yolk.

Meanwhile, place most of the torn radicchio on a serving dish. Slide the bread and eggs from the pan on to the leaves and scatter over the rest of the radicchio. Return the pan to the heat, add the wine vinegar and swirl for a few seconds to heat.

Pour the vinegar over the eggs and serve, sprinkled with extra chilli flakes and/or black pepper.

Chinese omelette with barbecued pork

The secret here is to use quite a bit more oil than you would for a regular omelette so it's nice and crispy. And if you can get to Chinatown to pick up some barbecued pork, all the better. If not, shredded chicken or prawns also work well.

Serves 2

6 eggs
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp peanut oil
150g/5oz barbecued pork, thinly sliced
Handful snow-pea shoots
Handful beansprouts, trimmed
3 spring onions, thinly sliced

To serve

Oyster sauce

Whisk together the eggs, garlic, ginger and rice wine, then set aside. Heat half the oil in a small frying pan over a high heat. Add half the egg mixture and cook. When the omelette is almost set, add half the pork, snow-pea shoots and shallots down one half of the omelette. Carefully fold over the other side of the omelette to enclose the filling.

Slide the omelette from the pan and on to a serving plate, then repeat process with the remaining mixture. Drizzle the oyster sauce over to serve.

My 'shakshouka'

This recipe is inspired by an Israeli taxi driver I took a ride with once. I've kept all the veggies chunky for texture and added chorizo for a smoky, flavoursome twist.

Serves 2

1 red onion, diced into large chunks
1 red pepper, diced into large chunks
130g/4oz chorizo, roughly chopped
tsp ground cumin
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
Handful of baby spinach leaves
2 eggs

To serve

Pinch of sumac
2 flatbreads
Pinch of paprika
Drizzle of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softening. Add the pepper and chorizo and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir in the cumin and chilli flakes, then add the tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir through the baby spinach so it just starts to wilt.

While this is cooking, place the flatbreads on a baking tray, drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until crispy.

With your wooden spoon, clear two holes in the frying-pan mixture. Crack an egg into each one and cook to your liking.

Once the eggs are ready, sprinkle with sumac and serve with the paprika-toasted flatbreads.