Divorced eggs

Huevos divorciados is a common Mexican breakfast dish and is basically jazzy fried eggs. This recipe is so named because the eggs are served with two conflicting sauces: one red and spicy and the other green and cooling. The green apple salsa would usually be made with tomatillos (a relation of physalis), though it works really well here with apple and herbs. Or you could make a more simple salsa by simply dry-roasting guajillo chillies and blending them with water and a garlic clove. For a more substantial meal, serve with refried beans (frijoles refritos) and a slice of avocado.

Credit: Emma Grazette & Steve Parle

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Spicy tomato sauce (salsa ranchera)

• olive oil
• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• ½ garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 green or red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 400 g tin roma (plum) tomatoes, drained and rinsed
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Green apple salsa

• ½ Granny Smith apple, finely chopped
• ½ cucumber, finely chopped
• 1 handful coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• ¼ tsp finely chopped green chilli 
• 1 lime, juiced
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve

• olive oil, for shallow-frying
• 4 large eggs
• 4 slices toast, or 4 corn tortillas

Instructions

To make the spicy tomato sauce, add some oil to a large frying pan over medium heat and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the chilli and allspice and continue to cook for 1 minute before adding the tomato. Break the tomato up with the back of your spoon until you have a smoothish sauce. Season to taste, then leave to simmer with the lid off for 20 minutes until sweet and thickened.

Meanwhile, to make the green apple salsa, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and season to taste.

Add a drizzle of oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the eggs, either all together or one at a time, depending on the size of your pan.

For each serving, place 2 slices of toast, or tortillas, on a plate and top with 2 fried eggs. Spoon the red sauce over one egg and the green sauce over the other.

Read about Emma Grazette’s spice journey through Oaxaca, Mexico.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.