Put a new spin on this breakfast classic by blending up your own fresh-made shishito pepper salsa.
Savory and full-flavored, topped with a delicious fried egg and garnished with fresh cilantro, these huevos rancheros make for a wonderful meal to enjoy anytime.
Ingredients for the salsa:
1 quart local shishito peppers
1 small yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup cilantro
1 lime
¼ cup water, or more as needed
Salt to taste
Ingredients for assembly:
4 Eggs
2 tablespoons oil
4 Tortillas (flour or corn)
1 can refried beans
Cotija or feta cheese for garnish
Cilantro for garnish
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set it aside.
Chop the tops off of your shishito peppers.
Cut your onion into quarters.
Slice your garlic cloves in half.
Set all your vegetables on the baking sheet and roast them for 20 minutes, or until they have started to char a bit on the edges.
Remove them from the oven and put them in a food processor.
Cut your lime in half and juice it. Add the juice to the food processor.
Add your cilantro and water to the food processor and blend until a smooth salsa forms. Add more water if needed to make it blend smoothly.
Set your finished salsa aside and begin working on your other components for your huevos rancheros.
In a small pot, let your refried beans heat up while you work on your eggs.
Add your oil to a pan and fry your eggs sunny-side up. There are a few tricks to getting a sunny-side up egg without burning the bottom. First, get your oil up to a sizzling boil before you add your egg. Second, turn the heat down to medium-low once you put your egg in the pan. Third, put a pot lid over top of the pan to trap the heat in and help firm up the top of the egg without flipping it.
In another pan, heat up your tortillas. You can fry them with more oil if you’d like, but heating them until the puff up usually tastes just as wonderful.
Once all your components are ready, you can start putting together your huevos rancheros.
Plate your tortillas, spread your refried beans on each tortilla, and top them with a fried egg.
Smother them with salsa, sprinkle them with your cheese, speckle them with your cilantro, and enjoy.
-Delaney Blomstrom
