As I lay in bed this morning, I thought about the day ahead. Admittedly I have very few things to accomplish today – I’m on vacation in Colorado. One item on my short to-do list is making this dish. We already bought all of the ingredients and it’s our last full morning here; today’s the day to do it. But I felt tired and not super jazzed about spending 45 minutes cooking breakfast. I could feel perfectly satisfied with just some eggs and toast.
And yet, every time I make an Alison recipe that I’m not necessarily in the mood for, it’s as if I can hear her say, “do you trust me?”
My answer is always “yes.” It’s part of my Rules, and that answer hasn’t led to disappointment yet.
Well, today’s “yes” was surely rewarded – this meal is amazing. I’ll take you through a brief step by step…
Diced onion, cumin and chorizo spend the first few minutes together, softening and sharing flavor. This recipe calls for dry chorizo, and try as I did, I couldn’t find it. So I used wet pork chorizo instead. No way of telling if that severely altered anything, but let’s just say that I didn’t notice anything wrong.
Next, diced fresh tomato joins the pan and cooks until it releases its juices and softens nicely. Then, a can of chickpeas and a bit of water go into the pan to simmer until the liquid reduces substantially. Alison instructs you to break the chickpeas a bit with your spatula, which helps them cook faster and turn out softer for eating purposes.
Meanwhile, and this is the most ingenious part of the recipe in my opinion, Alison has you make her Spicy Bread Crumbs, which are just fresh bread crumbs fried in oil and aleppo pepper. This step was crucial to the overall texture of the dish. Without the crunchy breadcrumbs, the final thing is a softer, dare I say mushy, mixture that is, yes, delicious, but wanting in variety. Bread crumbs are the answer to this, and therefore cannot be skipped.
With most of the liquid evaporated, four pockets are created in the pan and an egg fills each one. The pan is supposed to bake in the oven so that the eggs can cook, but none of the pans available in our cabin were oven-safe. Instead, I turned the stove’s heat down to medium-low and covered the pan to steam-cook the eggs. This worked perfectly, and only took about 6 minutes! Before plating I sprinkled the bread crumbs and fresh parsley over the top.
This breakfast thoroughly exceeded all my expectations. The flavors and textures were vibrant, but not overpowering. It felt filling and satisfying, but not heavy. It paired perfectly with sliced avocado.
Next time I have someone over for brunch, I will make this – without hesitation.
75 recipes cooked, 150 to go. (ONE THIRD OF THE WAY TO MY GOAL!)
