Crunch Into Brunch: Crispy Breakfast Tortilla Stacks Recipe
This recipe is part of Crispianity: a column devoted to all foods crispy and crunchy, two of the most underappreciated attributes of a great dish. Author Adeena Sussman is a food writer and recipe developer, pairing here with a friend, photographer Evan Sung. Sussman's most recent cookbook, coauthored with Lee Brian Schrager, is America's Best Breakfasts: Favorite Local Recipes From Coast to Coast (and check out their fried chicken book, too!).
Those leftover flour tortillas languishing in the back of your fridge? Put them to work as the foundation of an easy, crisp-based breakfast dish. All you need is a cookie cutter and some frying oil to turn those 'tillas into flaky rounds that reveal wavy, puffy layers when fried or baked. I add a homemade roasted salsa that comes together with the help of a sheet pan and food processor (or knife). I top with soft-scrambled eggs and avocado slices for an easy, totally inauthentic riff on the puffy tacos so many Texans are obsessed with.
- 1½ pounds roma tomatoes
- 2 large jalapeño peppers
- 1 medium onion
- 5 large garlic cloves
- 5 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves, plus more for garnish
- juice and zest of 1 lime
- water by the tablespoonful, if needed
- 2 jumbo (12-inch) or four 6-inch flour tortillas
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 large eggs
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 avocado
- :::salsa:::
- Preheat the oven to 500°. In a large bowl gently toss the tomatoes, peppers, onion, garlic oil, salt and pepper until coated. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until the tomatoes are charred and softened and the garlic can be pierced easily with a knife, 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature (about 20 minutes), transfer to a food processor, add the lime zest and juice and pulse until chunky, 20-25 pulses, adding water by the tablespoonful if necessary.
- :::tortillas:::
- Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut 8 rounds out of each tortilla (or 4 rounds from each if using 6-inch) to yield 16 tortillas. Save a few of the tortilla scraps to test the heat of the oil. In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until a tortilla scrap dropped into the water begins to brown and crisp almost immediately. A few at a time, fry the tortilla rounds until puffed, browned, and crisp, 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towels, then season with salt.
- :::eggs:::
- In a medium nonstick skillet heat the butter over medium-low heat. In a medium bowl whisk the eggs, half and half, and salt. Reduce the heat to low, add the eggs and cook, stirring constantly, until the eggs are creamy and custardy, 15 minutes.
- :::assembly:::
- Arrange 4 tortilla rounds on a plate and dollop the rounds with about 1/3 cup salsa. Top with ¼ of the eggs and avocado slices, then garnish with cilantro.