40 mins
Super easy
serves 6
About the recipe
The Mexican name for this dish is ‘huevos rancheros’ – eggs with chillies, tomatoes and peppers in burritos. It’s absolutely great if you've got a few mates round, and even better if you've got a hangover you’re trying to shake off!
Ingredients
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 red peppers
2 fresh red or orange chillies
olive oil
1 large dried chilli
2 fresh bay leaves
2 x 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes
2 large ripe tomatoes
6 large eggs
6 tortillas
Cheddar cheese, to serve
Top Tip
If you wanted to take this dish one step further, for a late brunch you could serve it with black beans, some steamed rice and a bottle of Tabasco or chilli sauce beside it. Give it a go!
Method
- Peel and finely slice the onions and garlic. Deseed and finely slice the peppers and chillies.
- Get a large frying pan (make sure you’ve got a lid to go with it) on a high heat and add several good lugs of olive oil.
- Add the onion, garlic, peppers, fresh and dried chillies, bay leaves and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and cook for 15 minutes, or until to softened and caramelised, stirring regularly.
- Pour in the tomatoes, using a spoon or potato masher to break them up. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a medium heat and cook for a further 5 minutes to reduce the sauce.
- When you’ve got a nice thick tomato stew consistency, have a taste and adjust the seasoning, if needed.
- Slice the fresh tomatoes and lay them over the top of the mixture.
- Use a spoon to make small wells in the tomato stew, then crack in the eggs so they poach in the thick, delicious juices – try to crack them in as quickly as you can so they all get to cook for roughly the same amount of time.
- Season from a height, put the lid on and let the eggs cook for around 3 to 4 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
- Warm the tortillas while this is happening. You can pop them into the oven at 180°C/350°F/gas 4 for a few minutes, microwave them for a few seconds or even lay them over the lid of the pan so they heat up as the eggs cook.
- Take the lid off and check your eggs by giving them a poke with your finger. When they’re done to your liking, turn the heat off and take the pan to the table with the warmed tortillas, the Cheddar and a grater so everyone can get involved and make their own. Personally, I like to grate a bit of cheese right on to a warm tortilla, spoon an egg and some of the wonderful tomato stew on top, wrap it up, and eat it right away. What a beautiful way to wake up!
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