“Cheesy Breakfast Stuffed Bread” Is the Most Brilliant Way to Serve Eggs on Easter

I thought I knew every possible way to have eggs and bread together: There are breakfast casseroles, French toast, egg-in-a-hole, and breakfast sandwiches, among many others. But a few years ago, I was introduced to yet another way to enjoy the classic breakfast combo, and I found it so delicious that I added it to my breakfast and brunch repertoire whenever I have guests over (it’s perfect for Easter!) . Smoked Salmon Egg Boats are not just fun to say, they’re extremely easy and tasty.

Get the recipe: Smoked Salmon Egg Boats

If you like quiche or breakfast casseroles, this will be right up your alley. Hollowed-out crispy French bread (the “boat”) holds a creamy scallion-flavored custard that covers smoky salmon and nutty Swiss cheese. I love that it stretches the smoked salmon, which I consider a little culinary luxury, to feed a lot of people in one fell swoop. The egg boats are hearty and easy to make but also look elegant as part of a brunch or breakfast table. But you can honestly serve this anytime of day, just pair it with a salad or some fruit.

Starting with loaves of bread means that you don’t have to deal with making a pie crust like you would a quiche, but you’ll still end up with something that’s beautiful to slice and serve. You can use batards, which are oblong loaves of bread, or smaller baguettes depending on how big you want the slices to be or how long you want to bake for (baguettes bake faster). A custard made rich with crème fraîche and flavored with scallions is bulked up with cold-smoked salmon and Gruyère or Swiss cheese. The oven cooks the egg custard and crisps up the bread at the same time. To serve, just cut through the egg boats like you would cut up French bread.

1. Save the bread scraps. After you hollow out the inside of the bread loaves, turn those fluffy insides into croutons by cooking them on the stovetop with some olive oil.
2. Play around with the fillings. Just like an omelet or quiche, you can swap out the smoked salmon and Swiss cheese with other ingredients. Try sautéed spinach with crumbled feta cheese for a vegetarian version, or sausage and cheddar cheese.
3. Cut with a serrated knife. Use a large serrated knife (a knife with teeth) to cut the egg boats up so that it’s easy to cut through the crusty outside.