I love eggs poached in tomato-based sauces. Whether it is eggs in purgatory, shakshuka, or huevos ahogados, I love them all.
I came across huevos ahogados while reading about huevos rancheros, as a variant of rancheros where the eggs are poached in the tomato salsa.
Now my recipe calls for roasting the bell peppers and jalapenos before dicing them for them to become part of the salsa. I got mine nice and charred on all sides on my gas stove, but you can also put them on a baking sheet and under the broiler of you oven, rotating them until they get evenly charred. Then you’ll want to steam them while they’re hot by putting them in a bowl covered with plastic wrap (or in a ziploc bag). This steaming process helps the charred skin come off easier.
Now you might be wondering, why do I need to char the skin, just to remove it later? Flavor my friends! The charring and roasting helps give the peppers a subtle smoky flavor and more depth than you would get by just dicing them without this step! And I think this recipe really benefits from the smoky addition of roasting the peppers.
My recipe also calls for one or two jalapenos. Once you’ve charred them, you can remove the seeds before finely dicing them for the sauce. Removing the seeds will cut back on the spicy heat of the the sauce. If you like it spicy, then keep them in!
Huevos Ahogados
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 2 bell peppers
- 1-2 jalapeños
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 2 roma tomatoes
- 1-2 tbsp sugar
- 4 eggs
- 4 tortillas
- cotija and/or chihuahua cheese
Instructions
- Roast the bell peppers and jalapenos over a gas stove, grill, or under a broiler until they are all slightly charred. Once charred, but them in a ziploc bag or bowl with plastic wrap to steam for 10-15 minutes. Once cooled slightly, remove the charred skin from the peppers.
- Dice the onions and roasted peppers and mince the garlic.
- Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, with the drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add the onions and peppers, sautéing until the onions start to soften. Then add the garlic, sautéing for another minute until fragrant.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the canned and fresh tomatoes to the sautéed vegetables. Taste for the acidity of the tomatoes and add the sugar, if needed, and lightly simmer the tomato mixture.
- Add the eggs to the tomato sauce and cover, poaching for 5 minutes or so, until the whites of the eggs have set. Cook longer if you would like to have the yolks set as well.
- Serve the eggs and tomato sauce with tortillas and cheese.
As for garnishes and finishing touches, I toasted my tortillas on the stove and added some cheese to them. If you are able to toast your tortillas, I highly recommend this step. I sprinkled some melty chihuahua cheese on the warm tortillas and some crumbled some cojita cheese on the eggs and sauce. I also added a dollop of sour cream.
