Huevos Rancheros

I could eat these huevos rancheros at any time, day or night. They've got every ingredient that I like: vegetables, cheese, eggs and two kinds of chiles. —Marcia Kiesel, test kitchen supervisor More Brunch Recipes

Yield:
6

Ingredients

  • 1 ancho chile, stemmed and seeded

  • 1 cup boiling water

  • 2 tablespoons pure olive oil plus more for oiling the skillet

  • 4 large garlic cloves, unpeeled

  • 3 jalapeño chiles

  • 1 medium sweet onion, halved

  • 1 pound plum tomatoes

  • Salt

  • 1 dozen large eggs

  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons crumbled queso blanco or ricotta salata

  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

Directions

  1. In a large cast-iron skillet, toast the ancho chile over moderate heat for 1 minute per side. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and add the boiling water. Cover with a plate and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove the ancho and finely chop it; reserve the soaking liquid.

  2. Lightly oil the skillet. Lightly char the garlic, jalapeños and onion over low heat, about 8 minutes; transfer to a plate. Lightly oil the skillet again and char the tomatoes over moderately high heat, about 4 minutes; transfer to a plate. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Peel, stem and seed the jalapeños. Coarsely chop the jalapeños and onion. Peel and coarsely chop the tomatoes.

  3. In a medium saucepan, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the garlic, jalapeños and onion and cook over moderately low heat for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, ancho and reserved soaking liquid and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt.

  4. Lightly oil the skillet and fry the eggs, sunny-side up, over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce onto each plate and top with 2 eggs. Sprinkle with the crumbled cheese and cilantro and serve.

Serve With

Warmed corn tortillas.

Related Articles