The egg plays a variety of culinary roles.(Chicago Tribune)

At odd moments that old advertising slogan "the incredible, edible egg" pops into my mind. In addition to being a pleasing bit of wordplay, it represents truth in advertising. Honored in song and story, its distinctive beauty recorded by countless artists and photographers, the egg is enjoyed everywhere and in many guises.

The egg repertoire is too vast to do anything more than nibble at it in this limited space. A few of my personal favorites are the cheese souffle, egg salad, stuffed eggs and soft-scrambled eggs. A mouth-watering variation on the latter is eggs scrambled with peppers. The Italians prepare this dish with their lovely green frying peppers and may add sausage to the mixture. I have two versions to share, one with sausage and one without. In the first, from John Thorne's delightful food newsletter, "Simple Cooking," the mixture becomes the filling for a hero-sized sandwich. In the second, from my kitchen, sausage, corn and onion are added to the eggs and peppers.

JOHN THORNE'S PEPPER AND EGG SANDWICH

Makes one sandwich

The roll:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon softened butter