Brunch is hands down my favourite meal to share with family and friends. It's the perfect meal to combine traditional breakfast ingredients like eggs with flavour combinations that are often reserved for lunches and dinner like cilantro, tomatoes and onions. This recipe may not be the most traditional huevos rancheros, but it's the recipe I kind of threw together and created for my Mom when she was craving a Mexican style brunch dish, and she absolutely loved it. Not only is it easy to make, but it's got Mom's stamp of approval.
There are a lot of substitutions or additions you can add to this dish. For instance, if you loved refried beans, add them in with the tomato sauce. If you don't have crushed tomatoes, used diced or whole and lightly blend them in a blender. If you don't love cilantro, top with green onions or parsley instead. This dish is great as is, but is often served alongside tortillas. A general rule that I'm finding is consistent with recipes like this: make it your own and use the recipe as a jumping off point.
Ingredients
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 green (or red) bellpepper, diced
1/2 jalapeno, deseeded and diced, and some slices left for garnish (optional)
2 tsp. crushed red pepper (flakes)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. black pepper
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup cotija, queso fresco or feta cheese
1 avocado, sliced
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
4 tortillas (optional)
Requires
1 non-stick pan or skillet
Directions
1. Heat olive oil in the pan on medium-high heat for about one minute.
2. Add in bell pepper and onion. Sautee for about 5 minutes, unil peppers soften and onion becomes translucent.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in crushed tomatoes, garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, pepper, jalapeno and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir frequently, for up to 10 minutes, letting the mixture reduce down to a sauce.
4. Once it has reduced, and has thickened a little bit, make 4 holes or wells in the sauce and crack open the eggs into them as quickly as possible (to ensure an even cooking time).
5. While the eggs cook, heat up the tortillas in the oven (in the microwave or a heated oven). This step is optional.
6. Eggs may take up to 10 minutes to cook, for faster cooking, use a lid or a sheet of aluminum foil over pan.
7. Once eggs are cooked, top with fresh cilantro, avocado slices, jalapeno slices (optional) cheese and fresh black pepper.
8. Serve with warm tortillas (optional).
9. Enjoy!