Huevos Rancheros

It’s been a while since I posted a good hearty breakfast recipe so it’s time to put that right. Huevos Rancheros is one of my favourite breakfasts: eggs, tomatoes, spice and avocado – what’s not to love?! It’s a great breakfast for the morning after the night before – it is definitely not a breakfast that will make you feel virtuous. If you are having a few people over for brunch it is ideal as you can prepare the tomato sauce and refried beans in advance and simply reheat on the day.

Anyone who follows me on Instagram will have seen my pic of a fab brunch in Sophie’s in the Dean Hotel where I had a huge plate of their Huevos Rancheros. I decided I finally had to make my own version at home and saw recipes in Gizzi Erskine’s Skinny Weeks and Weekend Feasts (under the weekend feasts section!) and in Jamie Oliver’s Comfort. I used the tomato sauce from Gizzi’s recipe here and it is delicious! I usually make a fresh salsa when I make nachos or fajitas but I think this will be my go to sauce from now on.

There is no definitive recipe for huevos rancheros. At its most basic it is a corn tortilla topped with a fried egg and served with a spicy tomato salsa. Most places will serve them with some sort of refried beans, avocado/guacamole, cheese and an option of meat. Really, it’s up to yourself what way to serve them. Jamie Oliver scrambles his eggs but I think fried is the best option for this. I have used flour instead of corn tortillas here as that is what I had and it works perfectly well. You can go to the effort of making guacamole if you like but there is enough going on to serve the avocado simply sliced up on the plate. You could also just serve a tin of refried beans but the ones below are quite tasty with very little effort. You can use dried beans to make this but all that soaking and boiling is far too much faff for my liking. There will be sauce and beans left over but I used these the following evening to serve with quesadillas – yum!

This recipe serves 4 or 2 very hungry/greedy people!

Ingredients:

• Tomato sauce – see below
• Refried beans – either buy a tin ready made or see below
• 2-4 flour or corn tortillas depending on tortilla size and number of people
• 4 slices of smoked bacon – you could use chorizo or regular sausages instead
• 4 eggs
• 1 avocado
• Lime juice
• Salt and Pepper
• 25g grated cheese – I used cheddar, use whatever you like yourself
• Sour cream

For the tomato sauce

• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
• 1 red chilli finely chopped
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp red wine or sherry vinegar
• A bunch of fresh coriander
• A pinch of sugar
• Salt and Pepper

For the refried beans

• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 tin of black beans drained and rinsed
• Salt and Pepper

 

Method:

•  Start by making your tomato sauce as this takes the longest to prepare. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat and fry the chilli and garlic for about a minute until the garlic starts to soften and go golden. Stir all the time and keep an eye on it as garlic can burn very quickly.
• Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, vinegar, sugar and half of the coriander. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until it has reduced. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
• Preheat your oven to a low setting to keep the tortillas and bacon warm.
• Next heat a dry non stick frying pan over a medium high heat and toast the tortillas on both sides. Keep them warm in the oven.
• Add a drop of oil to the pan and fry the bacon until crisp. Put the bacon on another plate and keep warm in the oven.
• Keep the bacon fat in the frying pan to add flavour to the refried beans. Fry the onion and cumin seeds in the bacon fat until the onion has softened. Add the oregano and drained beans and cook until the beans have warmed through. Gently mash the beans in the pan until they are the consistency you like. I like to leave a few chunks for texture. Season with salt and pepper and keep warm on a low heat.
• Slice the avocado thinly, sprinkle over some lime juice and season with salt and pepper.
• Fry your eggs to your liking, I like them just starting to crisp at the edges. You could scramble them or poach them if you prefer.
• Plate up the ingredients anyway you like and sprinkle over some of the coriander to garnish. I like to put each element separately on the plate rather than piling on top of each other so that I can pick and mix. I know, I’m quite sad! Don’t forget the sour cream and cheese…..