Chilaquiles with Salsa Verde Recipe
By Ed Smith
-
Easy
This recipe is extracted from Good Eggs by Ed Smith (Quadrille, £22), Photography by Sam Harris
As with so many Good Eggs, this Mexican dish is infinitely customisable and as much a frame of mind as it is a prescriptive recipe. That said, the totopos need to be thick and robust. It’s entirely possible to fry your own corn tortillas, each cut into eight equal segments, but pre-fried are available, and utilizing that convenience ensures this is a notably simple meal.
Try Ed Smith's recipe for Poached Egg with Nduja, Sage, & Leek or Fudgy Eggs or Toasted Bagels with Achovies, Mayo, & Capers.
Ingredients Chilaquiles with Salsa Verde
For salsa verde
- small white onion
- 1 clove garlic, unpeeled but squashed
- 1 large green pepper, halved and deseeded
- 300g tomatillos
- 2 jalapeño chillies
- 10g coriander, leaves picked
- Flaky sea salt
To assemble
- 120g good-quality corn totopos
- 1–2 eggs per person
- Your preferred fat, for frying
- 60ml sour cream
- 50g Cotija cheese (alternatively, queso fresco or a mild feta), crumbled
- ¼ white onion, finely diced
- ½ lime, in wedges
How to make Chilaquiles with Salsa Verde
- For the salsa verde, thoroughly char the onion, garlic and green pepper in a small, dry frying pan for 15–20 minutes.
- In a separate saucepan, cover the tomatillos and jalapeños with water and simmer for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer both the simmered and charred vegetables to a blender. Add 100 ml of the cooking water plus the coriander and whizz to a thin purée. Season with salt to taste.
- While the salsa is still warm, transfer it to a large mixing bowl (or reheat in a saucepan). Drop handfuls of totopos into the salsa, gently tossing to ensure they’re fully coated. Let them sit there for a minute or two to warm through (my preference is for that moment to be short enough for them to remain crispy).
- Fry the eggs as you prefer and slide these onto plates.
- Pile the totopos next to the eggs, being sure to scrape any salsa from the bowl over the top (or adding more if you wish). Drizzle over the sour cream, scatter with crumbled cheese and a little raw onion. I enjoy a segment of lime squeezed over all the elements, although I’m not sure this is traditional.
- ALSO CONSIDER: A side of black beans.
- Coating the totopos with a salsa roja instead of verde.
About the author
Ed Smith, an award-winning food writer and former lawyer, now crafts recipes, consults, and writes after training as a chef. He's active on social media and has authored cookbooks like 'Crave,' awarded Cookery Book of the Year in 2022, 'On the Side,' 'Good Eggs' and 'The Borough Market Cookbook.' His work frequently appears in outlets such as Waitrose Food, BBC Good Food, and The Sunday Times Magazine.
