This spin on pipérade, the chile-laden French Basque dish, includes nutty chickpeas and meltingly creamy mozzarella along with eggs.
Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat the broiler on medium.
Put the bread slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil. Rub the surface of each slice with the halved garlic clove and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Toast in the oven until golden brown, turning once, 2 to 2-1/2 minutes total.
Heat the oven to 425°F.
Put half of the chickpeas in a shallow bowl and coarsely mash with a fork. In a 12-inch ovenproof skillet, heat 2 Tbs. oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the hot pepper and grated garlic, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes and their juice, the mashed chickpeas, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to boil, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, and scatter the whole chickpeas evenly over the surface. Using a large spoon, make four evenly spaced depressions in the tomato mixture. Crack an egg into each depression. Scatter the mozzarella pieces over the surface, avoiding the eggs.
Transfer the skillet to the oven, and bake until the egg whites are opaque, the yolks are almost set, and the cheese is melted, 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
Season the eggs with salt and pepper, garnish with the basil, and serve with the toast.
Serving Size 4 Servings