Baked Eggs in Tomato Sauce Times Infinity

Or what I eat for lunch nearly every day

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Everyone has a dish they eat multiple times a week. This is mine.

It’s a Mexican style tomato and egg dish which I stick on top of a flour tortilla wrap and stuff in my gob at least three times a week.

I’m nervous to call it huevos rancheros—which was the inspiration behind the dish—because it’s more bastardised than that. But in its essence, it’s a tomato-based egg dish that has been spiked with Mexican flavours like smoky dried chillies, garlic, guacamole and fresh cheese.

This recipe is so ripe for adaptation, I’m surprised it’s taken me this long to write about it. Call it a heinous oversight that I am fixing today.

If you’re a fan of Mexican — either the authentic or Tex-Mex kind — this is going to light you up. But the best thing about this dish is how many ways you can make it your own.

To do this successfully, you’ve got to break this dish down into its key components:

• Thick tomato sauce.

• Eggs.

That’s it.

To adapt it to your tastes, first thing first — what other cuisines make tomato sauce?

Well, a lot.

Some Indian curries are based around tomatoes.

Moroccan tagine is another.

How about the OG of the baked egg and tomato dish, Shakshuka? This is thought to originate from North Africa where harissa is a key flavour bomb.

And of course, there’s Italian.

So here’s how this week is going to work. I’m going to give you my original recipe for the Mexcian version of this dish. I’ll then give you 4 other ways you could make this dish based on what you have in your pantry and what you love to eat. They are:

• Shakshuka

• Moroccan

• Italian

• Indian

Let’s do this.

Mexican style eggs

Serves 2 for lunch