Okay, disclaimer: This is not a Wednesday morning slap-and-dash breakfast-before-work kind of situation. Not to say it’s complicated—it just takes a moment of time and a nod of effort. You have to roast the dried chiles, encouraging their smoky flavor to develop and heighten, and then soak them and coax them into a soft state so they can be blended with roasted tomatoes and garlic and herbs. The sauce is reduced a little in the oven before the eggs are poached in there, too. The result is kind of like eggs in purgatory with a Latin shimmy. (For another tasty use of the Guajillo Chile Sauce—a Tortilla Rojo Bake!)
Ingredients
- 8 dried guajillo chiles (about 2 ounces; see Note)
- 1 dried ancho chile
- 1½ cups boiling water
- 1 pound plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3½ teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 can (14 ounces) chopped tomatoes (preferably fire roasted)
- 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 cups vegetable broth or water
- 8 large eggs
- Crumbled Cotija cheese (optional)
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- Warmed corn tortillas or toast, for serving (see box)
- Lime wedges, for serving
How to Make It
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Place a wire cooling rack inside a rimmed sheet pan and place the guajillo and ancho chiles on the rack. Roast the chiles until they are fragrant and begin to darken, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the chiles to a medium-size bowl and cover with the boiling water. Put a plate on the chiles to submerge them and set the bowl aside for 20 minutes.
- Increase the oven temperature to 400°F. Remove the wire rack from the sheet pan and line the pan with a piece of parchment paper. Toss the tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1½ teaspoons salt in a medium-size bowl, then place them on the sheet pan, cut side up. Roast until they are juicy, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the tomatoes to a blender.
- Remove the chiles from the water (save the water in the bowl). Discard the stems and slice the chiles open lengthwise. Scrape away the seeds and add the chiles to the blender, along with 1 cup of the reserved soaking water, the canned tomatoes, the garlic, sugar, oregano, cumin, coriander, and remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Blend at medium speed until very smooth. Return the sheet pan to the oven to heat it.
- Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the heated pan and pour in the guajillo sauce. (It should sizzle.)Return the pan to the oven, stirring every 5 minutes, until the mixture becomes very thick and pasty, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth and continue to bake until the sauce is thick and lush, about 15 minutes.
- Crack the eggs into the sauce and return the pan to the oven. Bake until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft, about 7 minutes for a soft yolk and 9 minutes for a medium- cooked yolk. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with salt, and divide among 4 plates. Sprinkle with Cotija cheese (if using), and cilantro, and serve with tortillas and lime wedges on the side.
