serves
4
prep
1 hour
cook
30 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
4
people
preparation
1
hour
cooking
30
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
Tortillas
- 1½ cups masa flour (see Notes)
- 1 pinch salt
- 500 ml (2 cups) water
- canola oil, for deep-frying
Toppings
- 1 chicken breast fillet
- ¼ white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp salt
- 200 g feta
- 200 g ricotta
- 150 g sour cream
- 3 eggs
Tomatillo salsa
- 1 large tin tomatillos, drained (see Notes)
- 3 jalapeño chillies, seeds removed, roughly chopped
- 1¾ white onion, roughly chopped
- 1 bunch coriander, leaves picked, roughly chopped, reserve some for garnish
- 1 leaf fresh epazote, chopped, or 1 tsp dried epazote (see Notes)
- 1 pinch salt
- cooking oil
Equipment: tortilla press (see Notes)
Instructions
For the tortillas, mix the masa, salt and water in a large bowl to form a soft dough. If dry, add additional water 1 tsp at a time. Divide the dough into 2 cm-diameter balls. Cover with a clean damp cloth to stop the dough from drying out.
Line a tortilla press with thick plastic wrap. Press each dough ball, one at a time, in the press.
Heat a dry non-stick frying pan over medium heat and cook for 60 seconds each side. Cover cooked tortillas with a clean damp cloth. Cut the each tortilla into quarters.
Heat 3-5 cm of oil in a large deep-sided frying pan and deep-fry the tortilla triangles, in batches, until crisp and lightly golden. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Place the chicken, onion, garlic and salt in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil, then gently simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, and when cool enough to handle, shred the meat.
Break the ricotta and feta into clumps and mix to just combine.
For the salsa, place the ingredients in a blender and mix until roughly combined.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add the salsa mixture, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
To serve, heat the oil in a large saucepan (that you can take to the table) over medium heat. Arrange the fried tortillas around the sides and base, overlapping.
Crack in the eggs, one at a time, spacing them around the pan and cook until the whites are cooked but yolks still runny.
Spoon over the hot salsa. (At this stage, you can make use this mixture to make tortas, see below.)
Top with the shredded chicken, ricotta and feta mixture, sour cream and coriander.
Variation
To make torta de chilaquiles, split a Vietnamese bread roll lengthyways without cutting in half and toast. Spoon the chilaquiles mixture onto the roll. Top with the shredded chicken, ricotta and feta mixture, sour cream and coriander.
Cook's notes
• Masa flour is specialty maize flour, available from Latin grocers, health food stores and select greengrocers.
• Tomatillos and epazote is available from Latin grocers.
• Tortilla presses are available from Latin grocers. If you don't have one, you can use a rolling pin to roll the tortillas.
This recipe is from - a brand new series airing weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Can the passion of a home cook beat the skills of a professional chef? Missed all the action? Catch-up online and get all the recipes .
This recipe has been edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the series.
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.
