Picante De Huevos

Picante De Huevos
3.7 (3 ratings)
If you want a dish to really wake you up and give you oomph for the day ahead, this recipe does the trick. It’s a firm brunch favourite at Andina, with people coming from far and wide to try it. — Martin Morales, author of Andina 
Servings
4
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 tablespoon panca chilli paste (see below)
  • 1 tablespoon amarillo chilli paste (see below)
  • 2 red peppers, deseeded and diced
  • 3 tomatoes, deseeded and very finely sliced
  • 1 tablespoon tomato purée
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 ounce cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 spring onions, finely sliced
  • 4 coriander sprigs, leaves roughly chopped, plus a few whole
  • slices of toast, to serve (optional)
  • salt and ground black pepper
  • 2 dried panca chillies
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/4 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 amarillo chillies, or 2 medium-heat red chillies and 1/2 yellow pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
Directions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large, ovenproof frying pan or shallow casserole. Add the onion and sauté over a low heat for 7–8 minutes until slightly softened, then add the garlic and chilli pastes and cook for a further 2–3 minutes until the garlic has softened but not taken on any colour. Season well with salt and pepper.
  2. Add the red pepper, tomato and tomato purée, and stir to combine. Cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes until the peppers have softened and the sliced tomatoes have collapsed down, then remove the lid and allow the sauce to reduce for 3–4 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Use a ladle to spoon half the mixture into a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth, then return it to the pan and stir to combine.
  3. Use the back of a tablespoon to make 4 indentations in the vegetable mixture and break an egg into each hollow. Cover the pan and leave it on the stovetop for 5 minutes to cook the eggs.
  4. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with Cheddar cheese, chopped spring onion and the chopped and whole coriander leaves, and serve with slices of toast on the side, if you wish.
  5. This recipe makes about 2 tablespoons of the paste.
  6. First, make the chilli pastes. For the panca chilli paste, cover the dried chillies in water and soak for 2 hours. Drain, then blitz with a stick blender, add salt to taste and set aside until needed.
  7. This recipe makes about 1/2 cup of the paste.
  8. While the panca chillies are soaking, make the amarillo chilli paste. Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a low–medium heat. Fry the onion for 7–8 minutes until soft, but not browned, then add the garlic and chilli (or alternative) and fry for 2–3 minutes more to soften. Season with salt to taste, then allow to cool completely. When cool, blitz to a smooth paste, then set aside until needed. (You can store any leftover in an airtight container the fridge for up to 1 week.)
  9. Recipes excerpted with permission from Andina: The Heart of Peruvian Food by Martin Morales (Quadrille November 2017)