Fried Eggs on Roasted Vegetable Hash, Tortillas and Ancho Pumpkin Seed Mole

I love eggs for several different reasons, but you will rarely find me eating them in the morning. I prefer something that is slightly sweet for breakfast and pairs well with either coffee or tea. The beauty of this recipe is that it works equally well on either end of the day, depending on your preference.

I often prepare breakfast for clients and have experimented with countless ways to prepare eggs since a standard omelet only goes so far before becoming old hat. I find the American diner style breakfast of eggs with bacon and potatoes to be monolithic and bland. It is devoid of balance. Protein and starch in my mind can form the solid structure of a meal, but they need vegetable, herb and spice elements to illuminate and pull everything together.

This potato vegetable hash with fried eggs and a roasted chile mole does just that. The usual suspects, eggs, potatoes and bacon, are all still there but no longer the star players. The dish is elevated by nuggets of roasted vegetables, the sweet pop of cherry tomatoes, and the hot smoky complexity of a roasted chile sauce. When you consider the added layer of crunch offered by the tortillas, it is easy to see why this has become of my most requested breakfast entrees.

Serves Four

Ingredients:

4-8 eggs

4 medium-large corn or flour tortillas, toasted

Hash:

2 lbs small potatoes, red bliss or fingerling, quartered

1 red bell pepper, cut into a small dice

1 jalapeno, seeded and cut into a small dice

1 bunch of scallions, root end trimmed, white and light green parts thinly sliced

1 bunch broccolini, bottom 2 inch of stalks removed

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely minced

1 zucchini, trimmed and cut into medium dice

1 C cherry tomatoes, halved

1 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp smoked paprika

5 pieces of all natural smoked bacon, cut into small pieces and cooked*

4 oz grated smoked cheddar, or pepper jack cheese

Mole:

2 dried ancho chiles, toasted and rehydrated*

1 onion, peeled, diced

1 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1 large tomato, cored and diced

1 tsp sesame seeds, toasted

2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2 oz dark chocolate, chopped

French bread, 1 slice

1 Tbsp blood orange olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

*Here is a lesson on toasting and rehydrating dried chiles

Method:

For the mole:

In a small skillet, sweat sliced onion in 1 Tbsp of olive oil along with garlic. While still warm, add to blender with remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. The sauce should be thick, but if you find it too thick to properly blend then add small increments of water to loosen it up. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use. Mole can be made up to 2 days in advance but should be reheated before use.

For the hash:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Toss potato wedges in olive oil just to coat and lay them flat on the baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until they start to turn golden brown. Meanwhile, blanche and refresh broccolini then drain off water completely and set aside. Once potatoes begin to brown, add bell pepper, scallions, broccolini, garlic, zucchini and salt and pepper to the roasting pan and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

While the potatoes are in their final stage in the oven, begin preheating a non-stick skillet over medium heat to fry the eggs. Coat the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of olive oil and when the potatoes are close to being ready, start cracking the eggs one-by-one into the pan. The eggs should start to sizzle upon hitting the pan. If they don’t then your pan is not hot enough and you should wait a few more minutes before proceeding. After you have all the eggs in the pan, pull your potatoes out of the oven and sprinkle the bacon and grated cheese across the top to cover. Return pan to the oven while you finish the eggs.

Place one toasted tortilla on each plate. When the whites of the eggs are set and the yolks are still slightly soft, remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle the eggs with salt, pepper and smoked paprika to taste. Remove the potato hash from the oven and spoon portions onto each tortilla. Using a non-stick spatula, carefully lift the eggs from the skillet and place 1-2 eggs on top of each serving of hash. Garnish each plate with a sprinkling of parsley and a generous drizzle of mole.