Chilaquiles with charred salsa verde
The late, great Diana Kennedy describes chilaquiles as “Mexican soul food”, and I couldn’t agree more. They’re essentially yesterday’s corn tortillas, broken into pieces, cooked in salsa and sprinkled with cheese, making a great brunch dish that oozes comforting familiarity. If you like, use a chopped fresh salsa instead, or, to make this even more of a feast, serve with some crisp slices of fried chorizo or mushrooms.
Prep
20 min
Cook
40 min
Serving size
4 people
Ingredients
For the charred salsa verde:
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1½ onions, peeled and cut into quarters (270g)
2 green chillies (20g), stems removed
1 avocado (170g), skinned, stoned and flesh roughly chopped
2 kiwi fruit (100g), peeled and roughly chopped
20g coriander, roughly chopped
2 limes, 1 juiced, to get 1 tbsp, the other cut into wedges
Fine sea salt and black pepper
For the chilaquiles:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
8 corn tortillas, each cut into 8 triangles – I like the ones from Cool Chile Co
20g unsalted butter
6 eggs, beaten
½ onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves
1 green chilli (10g), cut into thin rounds
75g feta, crumbled
Method
1. Start by making the salsa. Put a griddle pan on a high heat and, once hot, char the garlic, onions and chilli, turning as necessary, until blackened all over – the garlic and chilli will take about eight minutes and the onion about 20. Lift out on to a plate as they’re ready, then leave to cool. Once cool, put the garlic, onions and chilli in a blender with all the other salsa ingredients except the lime wedges, add two tablespoons of water, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and blitz smooth. Scrape into a small bowl and set aside.
2. To make the chilaquiles, put a large frying pan on a high heat, pour in a tablespoon of oil, then add a third of the tortilla triangles and fry, stirring constantly, for four to five minutes, until golden and crunchy. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with kitchen roll, then repeat with the remaining oil and tortilla triangles.
3. Once all the tortillas are draining, turn down the heat under the pan to low and drop in the butter. Once it has melted, return the tortillas to the pan, then add the eggs, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good twist of black pepper, and, using a spatula, gently and quickly fold the eggs over the tortillas three or four times, until they’re just set.
4. Transfer to a platter and spoon half the salsa over the top. Scatter on the onion, coriander, chilli and feta and serve hot with the remaining salsa and the lime wedges on the side.