Chilaquiles with Chicken and Salsa Verde
Breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. With a fried egg or some carne asada and refried beans on the side. I bet you all my allowance that it will conquer anyone's taste buds.
Utensilios/Equipment/Ustentsiles
- Chopping board
- Chef's Knife
- Baking sheet
- Blender
- Pot with lid or Dutch Oven
- Turner or Rigid Spatula
- Kitchen Spoon
Ingredientes/Ingredients/Ingrédients
For the salsa verde:
- 600 g tomatillo
- 2 fresh serrano peppers (if unavailable, you may use jalapeños or even thai chilis, just beware of their different level of spiciness)
- 1 onion cut in 4
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- Salt
- 50 g olive oil
For the chilaquiles:
- 12 corn tortillas cut in squares or triangles (it's even better to leave them the night before getting dry on your kitchen counter after you cut them)
- 1 chicken breast cooked and shredded
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 120 g crème fraîche or Mexican crema
- 200 g shredded mozzarella cheese to melt
- Frying oil
- sea salt to season
To Decorate:
- 1/2 onion cut in rings
- 1/2 bunch cilantro finely chopped
- 100 g cotija, fresco, or feta cheese
Preparación/To Prepare/Préparation
Prepare the salsa:
- In a baking sheet set your tomatillos, onion, peppers, and garlic cloves. Drizzle the olive oil and add a pinch of salt.
- Roast in a preheated oven at 200 °C or 400 °F. Be careful so nothing gets burnt. Take ingredients out of the oven as they get roasted. First, I take out the garlic cloves. A few minutes later the serrano peppers, and lastly the onion and tomatillos. I will leave the lot about 40 minutes in total.
- Pour everything in the blender. Add the cilantro and blend everything. Be sure the sauce is smooth. Verify your seasoning with a bit of salt f you need to.
Prepare the chilaquiles:
- In a big enough pot, fry the tortilla triangles or squares to make chips. I suggest you do this little by little so that all your chips are crispy and not soggy. Let them dry on a paper towel. Repeat this step until all your tortilla chips are crispy.
- Sauté the onion. Add a pinch of salt. Whenever the onion is transparent, add the salsa verde and let it cook for a moment.
- Add the chicken and the tortilla chips. Mix it well to incorporate everything making sure everything is well covered with the salsa.
- Add the crema or crème fraîche and the cheese on top. Let it melt for a few minutes at a very low heat.
Serve the chilaquiles:
- Serve and decorate with some fresh onion rings, a little feta, cotija, or queso fresco (whatever you have at hand), and a little freshly and finely chopped cilantro.
Notas/Notes
- I normally serve chilaquiles with a fried egg and some refried beans if I'm serving them for breakfast or brunch. At lunchtime, I will serve some carne asada and cactus salad on the side.
- If I'm being a little lazy to prepare the fried tortilla chips, I just buy them from the store.
- And if you want to open a jar or can of salsa... that's fair as well. Just be sure to adjust seasoning, and if it's necessary, add some freshly and finely chopped cilantro. Don't hesitate. It'll make it way better. If the cilantro you add dries out a bit the salsa, add a little chicken stock, veggie stock, or even water to arrive to the desired texture.