This Shakshuka has a delicious Mexican twist: Pasilla chillies. Dried chillies are the base of a lot of Mexican dishes, sauces and salsas. There is a huge variety of them and their use relates to their taste. The dried chilli we are using in this recipe is one of the most common ones. The Pasilla chilli is not hot at all. The magic about this chilli is that it is fragrant, almost sweet and somewhat smokey. It goes perfectly well with tomato-based sauces just like this one. The flavour of the chillies is obvious but smooth at the same time. It can be daunting to work with dried chillies but as you will see, the process is quite easy.
Pasilla Sauce
-2 Pasilla chillies seeds removed
-1 Large garlic clove
-1/4 White onion
-1/2 Jalapeño (seeds removed if desired)
-1 Large Tomato
-1 tsp Powder vegetable stock
-Salt & black pepper to taste
-1 1/2 Cup of water
-Olive oil
1 Remove the stem from the Pasilla chillies and carefully open them to remove the seeds.
2 Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan and add the chillies, garlic, onion, jalapeño and tomato. Cook for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Let the ingredients cool down in the saucepan for at least 15 minutes.
3 With a slotted spoon, remove the chillies, garlic, onion, jalapeño and tomato and add them to a blender. The tomato should have enough liquid to process the sauce but if needed, you can add a little bit of the cooking water taking care that is not too much. This sauce should be nice and thick.
4 In a pan, add a light drizzle of olive oil and once hot, pour the sauce, add the vegetable stock and check for seasoning here. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook the sauce for 15 minutes on low heat.
Mexican Shakshuka
-4 Eggs
-1/2 Red pepper, sliced
-1 Cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
-4 Cherry tomatoes, halved
-Radish, thinly sliced
-Fresh jalapeño, thinly sliced
-Avocado, sliced
-Fresh coriander
1 While the Pasilla sauce is cooking, add the peppers and the spinach. Mix well and let it cook, covered, for 5 minutes.
2 Make a little space in the sauce and crack open an egg. Repeat this with every egg, placing them separate enough that you can dish them individually.
3 Add the cherry tomatoes and cover the pan. Cook on low heat for 13 minutes. Check at this point if your eggs are cooked to the desired doneness. This can take from 10 to 15 minutes.
4 Sprinkle the Mexican Shakshuka with fresh coriander, radishes, jalapeño slices and avocado. Serve with crusty bread and enjoy!
Notes:
- This recipe is easily adaptable to more vegetables than the ones that are here. You can add mushrooms, corn, peas and even when this recipe is vegetarian, it can be easily adapted to non-vegetarian menus.
-The recipe will yield four small portions or two good portions for a super tasty light lunch.
Fun fact: Pasilla chillies are long, almost black and have wrinkly skin which makes them look like a raisin. Raisin in Spanish is pasa, so these chillies are called pasilla because they resemble a raisin.
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