Three Mexican Breakfast Recipes

Mexican breakfasts are well worth getting out of bed for. Then again, there's really no reason they should be limited to the morning, as they're more than substantial enough for a filling meal at any time of day. All the following recipes serve two and are intended to be versatile, so by all means simplify the steps or ingredients, add a little white cheese or refried beans if desired, or just use what you have to hand. There are endless possible variations, but the deliciousness remains constant!

HUEVOS RANCHEROS:

This is the classic Mexican breakfast: fried eggs with spicy tomato sauce on a bed of tortilla.

Ingredients:

• 4 free-range eggs
• 4 small flour tortillas
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes, or approx 6 peeled, chopped fresh tomatoes
• 2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander or parsley
• 1 chopped white onion
• 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 a very finely chopped hot chilli (preferrably serrano, jalapeño or guajillo) – or your favourite spicy sauce to taste (we love adobo and chipotle sauces)
• Generous pinch of salt
• Pinch of sugar
• Pinch of pepper
• Knob of butter

1. Slowly fry the onion, garlic and fresh chilli, if using, in a splash of olive or vegetable oil over a low heat until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan and season with salt, sugar and pepper. If you prefer to use a spicy sauce instead of (or in addition to) the fresh chilli, add it now too. Ideally simmer for 15-20 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce, intensifying the flavours.
3. Once your sauce is nearly ready, add the butter to a separate frying pan over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the eggs and season with a little salt and pepper. Fry the eggs, ensuring the yolk remains runny.
4. Meanwhile, heat a grill or oven to medium. Lightly coat each of the tortillas in olive or vegetable oil and grill or bake them for a couple of minutes until they become a little crispy.
5. To serve, lay the tortillas out on two (large) plates, top each tortilla with a fried egg and cover with the sauce, then sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top.

HUEVOS A LA MEXICANA:

Mexican-style scrambled eggs; quick and easy.

Ingredients:

• 6 free-range eggs
• Handful of cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 2 spring onions, chopped into rounds (optional)
• Handful of pickled jalapeño pepper rounds (eg from the Mexican Discovery range)
• A teaspoon or two of your favourite spicy salsa
• Generous pinch of salt and pepper
• Pinch of dried oregano
• 1/2 a chopped red pepper (optional)
• Small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

1. Heat some oil or butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the red pepper, if using. Fry until it is just beginning to soften, then add the spring onions, tomato and jalapeño. Fry for two more minutes.
2. Meanwhile crack the eggs into a bowl and roughly whisk with a fork. Add the spicy salsa, salt, pepper and oregano and mix together.
3. Add the eggs to the pan, mixing occasionally to scramble them. Sprinkle over the coriander. When the eggs are cooked to your liking, remove from pan and serve with bread or tortillas.

HUEVOS DIVORCIADOS:

Yup, it means 'divorced eggs'! It seems they have irreconcilable differences in their taste in salsa as one of the eggs in this dish is always covered in spicy red sauce and the other in green. Some versions of the dish include a 'wall' in between the two eggs, made of tortilla chips stood upright in a base of refried beans, but in our recipe the separation is more amicable.

Note: tomatillos (a small green tomato variety) are very hard to come by in the UK, but if you are able to get them and prefer to make the green sauce from scratch, simply follow the same instructions as for the red sauce, replacing tomatoes with tomatillos. Ready-made salsa verde should be available in any large supermarket (find in specialist/foreign foods aisle).

Ingredients:

• 4 free-range eggs
• 4 small flour tortillas
• 2 peeled and chopped tomatoes (or half a tin)
• Shop-bought salsa verde
• 1/4 of a finely chopped chilli pepper (use a Mexican variety if possible)
• 1/4 of a white onion, chopped
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• Generous pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped coriander
• Optional: shop-bought refried beans; white cheese such as feta

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan over a low heat and fry the onion, garlic and chilli until the onion has browned. Add the tomato and salt and increase the heat to medium. Cook for around five minutes, then pour the whole mixture into a food processor and blend along with half of the coriander (a hand blender is also fine). Keep warm.
2. Heat a similar quantity of salsa verde in a pan (or microwave if you prefer) until hot through.
3. Fry the eggs, keeping the yolks runny.
4. Grill the tortillas until browned and crispy. If desired, you can spread warmed refried beans over them and sprinkle with white cheese.
5. Lay out two of the tortillas on each plate and top each with a fried egg. Spoon out the red sauce over one of the eggs on each plate and the salsa verde over the others. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander and serve.